


Promises

by blurryfics



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: F/M, Family Member Death, Fluff and Angst, Mentions of Cancer, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-08-29 13:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16744720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryfics/pseuds/blurryfics
Summary: You and Tyler were inseparable as kids, often regarded as the dynamic duo of the small town that you grew up in. As teens, you often fantasized about leaving your small town to pursue your dreams in other parts of the country. Your plans are suddenly put on hold when your father falls sick shortly after your high school graduation. Meanwhile, Tyler moves away from your hometown, leaving his past, and you, in the dust.





	1. Chapter 1

**August 10th, 2007**

You chewed nervously on the edge of your thumb, your eyes fixated intensely on the white wall in front of you. Your parents had left for the doctor nearly an hour ago, and your mom had said that they shouldn’t be gone for more than half an hour. You had tried to distract yourself by going on a walk, but your mind had quickly gone off on a tangent and you had ended up back in your room, nervously pacing from one end to the other.

Your dad had been sick for some time now. It started off with a cough, but he had waved it off as nothing and insisted that he was fine. It wasn’t until he started coughing up blood that your mom had insisted that he make an appointment with the doctor. Today had been the day of that appointment, and you were growing antsy to find out if he was ok or not.

You heard the front door open downstairs and practically jumped off of your bed. Your socks slid as you rounded the corner that led to the stairs and ran down them two at a time. With a jump, you landed at the bottom of the stairs and ran into the entryway.

You could tell that something was wrong the moment that you saw your mom’s face. Her mouth was downturned, something that was atypical with her bubbly personality. She was holding your dad’s hand so hard that her knuckles were white. Your dad’s face was downcast, and his eyes didn’t meet yours when you looked at him. A knot formed in your stomach.

“Did you figure out what’s going on?” you asked quietly.

Your mom cleared her throat very politely before opening her mouth slightly. She closed it for a second, her lips pressed tightly together, before letting out a small breath of air.

“Why don’t we sit in the dining room?” your dad suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” your mom said, barely a whisper.

You nodded and walked towards the dining room. Your parents followed after you, taking the seats across from you at the table. You looked between the two of them, deciding it was best to let one of them speak first.

Your mom finally took a deep breath and started to speak, “So they ran some tests while we were at the doctor.”

Her voice was shaking as she spoke. Your dad reached over and squeezed her hand.

“I can tell her if you want, dear.”

Your mom nodded and buried her face in her free hand. Her shoulders began to shake and you cast your eyes down towards the table. There was nothing you hated more than seeing your mom cry.

“Y/N,” your dad said.

You looked up and met his eyes, already chewing on the edge of your thumb again.

“I have stage four lung cancer.”

A chill ran down your spine.

“What?” you asked. “No, that can’t be right.”

Your dad’s eyes were brimmed with tears, and that hurt more than seeing your mom cry.

“We’re going to start treatment, but there isn’t too much that can be done at this point. The best case scenario is that I have another eight months to live.”

“How did this happen? I’ve never even seen you touch a cigarette.”

“Darling, I’ve been a carpenter for thirty years. There’s a lot of junk in the air that I shouldn’t have been breathing, but it was part of the job. These things happen.”

“This isn’t fair!” you stood up suddenly, sending your chair toppling over behind you.

“Life isn’t fair.”

Tears were clouding your vision. A myriad of emotions was swelling up inside of you and you weren’t sure what to do with yourself. You couldn’t believe that your dad was so calm about this; it was almost like he hadn’t just told you that he had less than a year to live.

In your distressed state, you went running back upstairs and flung yourself down on your bed. You buried your face in your pillow and sobbed, not caring if your parents could hear you downstairs. It was the only thing that was making the knot in your stomach feel just a little bit better.

It took you awhile to calm down. Your parents had knocked on your door countless times, but you had shooed them away, telling them that you would be more willing to discuss the situation later. By the time you finished crying, your throat was so raw that you could barely talk and your face was even more red and blotchy than the day that you had discovered you were allergic to blueberries.

Your eyes landed on the packed duffle bag in the corner of the room. You and Tyler had been planning to leave for California the following morning to pursue your dreams and finally leave the boring town that you two had grown up in. Another knot formed in your stomach as you realized that leaving was no longer an option for you, not as long as your dad was sick.

Realizing what you had to do, you rolled off your bed and walked downstairs. Your parents were in the living room, but they hardly seemed to notice as you walked by and into the kitchen. With shaking hands, you picked up the phone and dialed Tyler’s home number. It was rare that he answered his cell phone, anyway.

The phone rang a couple times before someone picked up. You recognized Mrs. Joseph’s voice immediately.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Joseph. It’s Y/N, I was wondering if Tyler was there?”

“Of course. One second.”

There was some muffled yelling followed by the unmistakable sounds of the phone being passed off. You couldn’t help but smile as you heard Tyler clear his throat before answering.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ty. It’s me.”

“Y/N, hey. What’s up?”

“I have some bad news.”

“Hit me with it.”

“I’d rather tell you in person.”

“Ok, you want to meet at the tree in five?”

“Perfect.”

“Ok, see you then.”

“Bye.”

You hung the phone up and grabbed your beat up Converse from beside the back door.

“Are you going out?” your mom called from the living room.

“I was just going to go to the tree and talk to Tyler for a bit, is that ok?”

“Just make sure to be back for dinner in twenty minutes.”

“Sounds good.”

You headed out the back door and grabbed your bike from the side of the house. After a few adjustments, you were making your way down the street towards the tree.

Tyler was already there when you arrived, picking idly at blades of grass. You hopped off your bike and leaned it up against the thick trunk of the tree. It was a common meeting place for the two of you, being almost exactly halfway between your houses and all. You had been meeting up at the tree since you were kids.

“So what did you have to tell me?” he asked.

You opened your mouth to say something, but froze up. Something about the way Tyler was looking at you was making you nervous, and you knew that he was going to be disappointed with the news.

“I can’t go to California with you,” you blurted.

Tyler’s eyes immediately went wide, “What?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Y/N, we’ve been planning this for two years. Why are you bailing on me the night before?”

Tears were brimming in your eyes again, “It’s my dad. He has stage four lung cancer and most likely less than a year to live. I can’t just leave him…”

Tyler’s features immediately softened and he held out his arms. You hugged him tightly as you tried, and failed, to fight tears.

“I’m so sorry for getting upset. I didn’t realize…”

“It’s fine, I kind of phrased that in a bad order,” you laughed.

He finally let go of you and you wiped away your fallen tears with the back of your hand.

“I’m really sorry that I’ve ruined all this,” you sighed. “I know it’s been our plan for practically forever.”

“You haven’t ruined anything,” Tyler smiled. “There are just some things you can’t control.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Well I’ve got to get going. My mom barely let me out of the house to come see you.”

“Yeah, my mom has dinner cooking at home.”

“See you around.”

“Later, Ty.”

You each grabbed your bikes and headed off in your respective directions. Telling Tyler had gone a lot better than expected, and you were glad that he was willing to put California on hold. At least one thing was going your way.

Your mom woke you up the next morning, something that was unusual for her.

“Wake up! It’s California day,” she smiled.

You sighed, realizing that you had forgotten to tell your parents about the change of plans.

“I’m not going.”

“What?”

“Mom, I can’t leave while Dad is sick. I want to be here for whatever amount of time he has left.”

Your mom sighed and placed a hand on your shoulder, “Always putting others before yourself. Your father is going to be very happy to hear that you’re staying.”

She kissed the top of your head before walking out of the room. You hopped out of bed and decided to give Tyler a call to see if he wanted to do something today to make up for canceling the trip.

You hummed to yourself as the phone rang. It only took a couple rings before someone picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Joseph. I was wondering if Tyler is there?”

“Tyler left this morning.”

“Left?”

“Yes, for California. I thought you were going with him, Y/N?”

You felt your heart sink. The conversation from last night played over in your head, and you suddenly felt very dumb as you realized that Tyler had never actually said he was staying.

“No, I-uh-had to cancel for personal reasons. I totally forgot that was today, sorry to bother you.”

“You’re never a bother, dear.”

“Bye, Mrs. Joseph.”

“Goodbye.”

You hung up the phone and grabbed the edge of the counter to steady your shaking body. For the first time that you could remember, you were without Tyler.


	2. Chapter 2

**June 30th, 2017**

“Come on,” you groaned, trying to jiggle your key out of the car’s ignition. “Just give it up!”

The key eventually gave, but not without causing your hand to fly to the side and smack into the dash. You winced and cradled your hand, biting down on your lip to keep from screaming profanities. With a sigh, you leaned your head onto the steering wheel.

“Just a couple thousand more dollars and we can get a new car,” you reminded yourself.

Once your hand stopped throbbing, you grabbed your bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car. The door creaked as you closed it behind you, but you had grown so accustomed to it at this point that you hardly noticed.

“I’m home!” you called as you walked into the entryway.

“Hello, sweetheart!” your mom called from somewhere in the house.

You kicked your shoes off by the door and set your bag next to the stairs before walking into the kitchen to join your mom. She was currently standing behind the counter mixing what looked like a fruit salad.

“How was work?” she asked.

You shrugged and took a seat at the dining room table, “Same as always. I just reshelved some books, gave people recommendations here and there, and did some indexing.”

“Sounds fun,” she smiled.

“If you consider mundane work fun, then sure,” you joked.

She shook her head, “You’ve always had your father’s humor.”

You managed a small smile at the mention of your dad. He had passed away from lung cancer nine years ago, and not a day had gone by where you didn’t think about him. You had stayed home after he passed away to help your mom out financially. It had never been your vision to live at home in the same small town your entire life, but sometimes things just worked out that way.

“What are you making for dinner tonight?” you asked.

“Chicken breast, roast vegetables, and fruit salad.”

“What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion, I just know you’ve been working hard lately.”

“Thanks, Mom,” you smiled. “Hey, where’s Fergus?”

Fergus was a three year old golden retriever that you and your mom had adopted a few years ago to liven up the house a bit. You had ended up with a bit more than you bargained for, however. Fergus was one of the most energetic dogs that you had met, and he was always running around and getting into trouble somehow. He was a lovable idiot of a dog.

“He’s in the backyard. I got distracted with helping the new family down the street move in so I never got the chance to take him on a walk. He was running around while I was trying to cook and I tripped over him at least three times.”

“I’ll take him on a walk,” you shrugged.

“You will?”

“Of course, I could use the fresh air.”

“Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

As soon as Fergus heard the back door open, he came barreling across the yard, stopping just short of you. His tongue was hanging half out of his mouth as he looked up with you with wide eyes.

“You want to go on a walk, bud?”

His tail started wagging furiously. After a bit of trial and error, you eventually managed to get him to sit still long enough for you to clip his leash on. You waved to your mom through the kitchen window before walking through the fence gate. Fergus tugged on the leash a bit as you walked, but you were too busy enjoying the sunshine to notice.

You didn’t pay too much attention to where you were going, and before you knew it you were to the big tree where you and Tyler had spent so much time as kids. Fergus began to sniff around the roots as you looked up at the green leaves overhead. Patches of sunlight were shining on the ground, and you couldn’t help but reminisce about better times. Curiosity got the better of you and you walked around to the back side of the tree where, sure enough, your and Tyler’s initials were still carved into the trunk.

Fergus eventually began to tug at the leash again, leading you further down the road. You pulled yourself out of your own head and redirected your attention to the world around you. Despite the fact that you had walked this road countless times, you always tried to find something new each time. It was one of the few things that made you feel less stuck in life.

You and Fergus both started to grow tired of walking, so you turned around and headed back towards your house. Your mom was on the phone as you walked inside, so you decided to head up to your room to give her some privacy. You had tried to convince her a long time ago that you no longer needed a landline phone, but she insisted on keeping it so that she could talk to the Josephs. Even telling her that she could still talk to them on a cellphone wasn’t enough, so you had decided to accept your defeat.

You took a seat at the small desk in your room and grabbed the stack of papers you had tossed to the side of the chair. They were covered in scribbles and ideas for the novel you were working on. You took a second to organize the papers and grab a pen from the small cup in the corner before writing down a few ideas that had occurred to you while you were out on your walk.

“Y/N!” your mom called up the stairs.

“Yeah?”

“Can you come down here?”

“Yeah, one sec.”

You stacked the papers back up before sliding down the hallway in your socks towards the stairs. Your mom was in the kitchen when you arrived downstairs, looking more flustered than was typical of her.

“What’s up?” you asked, trying to hide the slight nervousness in your voice.

“I just got a call from Mrs. Joseph.”

That didn’t seem too out of the ordinary.

“Oh yeah? How is she doing?”

“Same as always, but that’s not why she called.”

“Is everything alright?” you asked, growing significantly more nervous.

“Sweetheart, Tyler is back in town.”


	3. Chapter 3

**September 9th, 2007**

It had been almost a month since Tyler left, and there was no doubt in your mind that it had been the worst month of your life. All of your friends from high school were packing and moving off to college while you stayed at home, spending most of your days in the hospital with your dad. Time was moving slowly, and you weren’t sure what you were looking forward to anymore.

“Sweetheart?”

“Huh?” you asked, turning to face your mom in the driver’s seat.

“Is it alright if we pick up some food on the way home? I’m feeling too tired to cook tonight.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” you answered, turning to look back out the window.

The sun was sitting over the hills in the distance, coloring the sky a bright orange color. Summer was coming to an end, and you weren’t looking forward to the cold months ahead.

“How’s the job search coming along?”

You looked down at the beat up shoes on your feet. The two of you had come to the agreement that as long as you were at home, you needed to work. You had applied to a number of places, but very few of them were willing to hire someone without any experience.

“The clothing store hasn’t called me back, the shoe store said they were already swamped with applications, and I watched the guy at the electronics store throw my resume into the trash as soon as I walked out the door.”

“Well, I noticed that the bookstore had a help wanted sign in the window when I walked by earlier this morning. You might be able to get a job there, they’d probably have pretty flexible hours so that you could still visit your dad pretty regularly. Plus, you like books. It might be good to be surrounded by them all the time, help boost your mood a bit.”

You shrugged, “I’ll look into it.”

“You’ll have to get a job eventually.”

“I know, Mom.”

You grabbed your half of the food that you had picked up on the way home and headed upstairs. Not wanting to sit still since you had just been in the car for close to an hour, you wandered around your room as you ate. You hesitated as you walked by your desk, letting your eyes wander up the corkboard that was covered in pictures of you and Tyler. For the past few weeks, you had acted like it wasn’t there, as if everything you had done with Tyler was just a dream.

You reached out and adjusted a picture that been pushed at a weird angle. It was one of you and Tyler when you were younger, taken during one of your joint family trips. The two of you were sitting in the dirt, making small mounds covered in leaves and twigs. You both had the biggest smiles on your faces.

The phone started ringing downstairs, drawing your attention away from the picture. In one swift motion, you set your food on the table and went sprinting out into the hallway.

“I’ve got it!” you yelled as you made your way down the stairs as fast as humanly possible without tripping.

You scanned the number on the phone as you reached for it. It was a number you didn’t recognize, but if it was Tyler, he could be calling from anywhere. Your heart was pounding as you hit the green call button and brought the phone to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Hi. We’re calling for a Y/M/N.”

Your heart sank as you realized it wasn’t Tyler.

“One second.”

You passed the phone to your mom and went shuffling back upstairs. With a sigh, you grabbed your food and flung yourself down onto your bed. It squeaked a bit as you did so, but you couldn’t be bothered.

There was a knock on your door a few minutes later.

“What?” you grumbled.

“Can I come in?” your mom asked, poking her head in.

“I guess.”

You tossed your wrapper in the general direction of your trash can, but it bounced off the side and rolled along the carpet unceremoniously. Your mom walked in and took a seat on your bed next to you.

“That was the insurance company,” she sighed. “Not who you were hoping for, huh?”

“I’m not hoping for anyone to call,” you said, crossing your arms.

“Sweetheart…”

“I’m not! I don’t have any friends that would be calling me.”

“You and I both know that you’re still upset about Tyler leaving.”

“It’s fine, he’s free to do whatever he wants with his life.”

“Yes, but those were your plans. You remember how excited you got the day you told me that you were going to be able to make it work?”

You nodded.

“It’s ok to be upset about someone you care leaving you.”

Your eyes began to fill with tears. As much as you hated to admit it, Tyler leaving had basically ruined you. It was like a piece of you had gotten up and left with him.

“I just don’t understand why he did it,” you sniffled.

“Come here,” your mom said, holding her arms open.

You slid into your mom’s side, resting your head on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around you and began to stroke your hair, something she had been doing to calm you down since you were a child.

“Sometimes people do things that we don’t understand, and we just have to live with them.”

“He told me that he was always going to be there for me, no matter what. And now my life is the worst that it’s ever been and he’s gone and he won’t answer any of my calls no matter how hard I try,” you sobbed.

“I know,” she cooed. “You deserve better than that.”

You continued to cry into your mom’s shoulder for a considerable amount of time. When you finally calmed down, your throat was raw and your eyes were puffy. Your mom grabbed your hand and walked you downstairs into the kitchen. You took a seat at the dining room table while she made you a cup of tea.

“Sometimes things happen for a reason,” your mom said as she put the kettle on the stove. “Maybe Tyler leaving is meant to teach you something.”

“Yeah, just like how Dad getting sick is supposed to teach me something too,” you scoffed, kicking the chair next to you.

“I know it’s hard right now, sweetheart,” she said, coming over and sitting in the chair next to you. “But things will get better.”

You leaned over and rested your head in your hand. Your mom always used that phrase with you when you were sad, and you couldn’t be too mad about it. So far, she had always been right, things had worked out.

“Things will get better, they always do.”


	4. Chapter 4

**June 30th, 2017**

“What?” you asked, making sure you had heard your mom correctly.

“Tyler. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten who that is.”

“Of course I haven’t forgotten! But what is he doing back here? He’s super famous now.”

“Famous people have family too, you know.”

“He hasn’t been in town for ten years.”

Your mom shrugged, “I don’t have all the answers, sweetheart. You can ask him when we see him at dinner on Friday night.”

“Dinner? On Friday night?”

“Yes. The Josephs invited us over so that we can all catch up. I told them that you and I are both free on Friday night, and we would be over at five.”

You were speechless. Just a few days ago, everything had seemed normal and routine. You and your mom would go to work, come home, have dinner, watch some TV, go to bed, and get up and do it all again the next day. Now that Tyler was back, everything felt off.

“I’m going to go upstairs.”

“Are you alright?”

“I just need to think.”

Fergus followed you as you walked up the stairs to your room. He hopped up on your bed and made himself comfortable while you closed the door and walked over to the window. It took a bit of force to get it to open, but you eventually made it budge. A light breeze entered the room, and you could smell the distinct smell of summer drafting in.

Fergus watched as you dragged your desk chair over to the closet and opened it. You clambered up on the chair and began to feel around on the top shelf. Your hand made contact with a box that had been forced into the back corner, untouched for nearly eight years. After a bit of struggle, you managed to get a hold of it and pull it towards you. With your box in tow, you walked over to the center of the room and sat down. Fergus hopped off the bed and came and laid down next to you.

You wiped the dust that had collected off of the top of the box before opening it. In the corner, you could just make out where you had written “Tyler” in pencil. A number of emotions began to overwhelm you as soon as you did. Hesitantly, you began to look through the box. There were dozens of pictures: you and Tyler at prom, the picture of you two playing in the dirt, the two of you after performing a two-man play you had written. Beneath those were stacks of paper that had notes you and Tyler had passed in class. He had always asked you why you insisted on keeping them, and you had always told him that they might be fun to look back at someday. This was never how you had expected to look back at them.

You continued to look through the box until your eyes were so clouded with tears that you couldn’t see straight anymore. Fergus sensed your distress and readjusted himself so that his head was resting in your lap. You kicked the box away from you and wrapped your arms around Fergus.

Part of you was excited that Tyler was back. You hadn’t seen him since the conversation under the tree when you told him that you couldn’t leave with him. The other part of you was angry at him. He had missed so many important things since he left, and he hadn’t kept in contact at all. Every year, you still called him on his birthday and left him a voicemail, even though you were sure his phone number had changed by now. Sometimes, on nights when you really missed him, you would watch videos that people had taken at his concerts and posted online.

“Y/N?” your mom asked, poking her head in the door. You hadn’t even heard her knock.

“You can come in,” you sniffled.

Your mom walked in and took a seat next to you on the ground. Fergus wagged his tail, causing a loud thumping sound to vibrate through the floor. She noticed the pictures on the floor and picked up a small stack, slowly shuffling through them.

“Hard to believe this was all over ten years ago, huh?” your mom smiled.

“Yeah,” you sighed.

Your mom stopped shuffling through the pictures and looked up at you, “Why did you ever take these off the wall?”

You bit down on your lip, “I couldn’t stand to look at them everyday. It just reminded me of how he left.”

She nodded thoughtfully before returning to looking through the pictures, occasionally smiling or laughing at one. Eventually, she set them back inside the box and took hold of one of your hands.

“You know, you don’t have to go to dinner if you don’t want to. I can tell them you got called into work last minute. I know things will probably be…tense between you two, for lack of a better word.”

“No, I want to go. I think talking to him would be good for me.”

“It would be,” she smiled.

“Plus, I never miss an opportunity to eat at the Josephs’ house.”

“You had dinner there more often than you had dinner here in high school,” your mom smiled.

“It was easier than cooking for myself when you and dad were at work!” you defended yourself.

“I know, sweetheart,” she said, giving your hand a light squeeze.

You took a deep breath, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit terrified of seeing him.”

“It will be hard, there’s no doubt about that. Just keep your head held high and try to remember the good times, that’s all you can do.”

The stove started beeping downstairs, prompting your mom to get up and walk to get whatever was cooking. You slowly collected everything back into the box and walked back over the closet. The chair wobbled a bit as you climbed back on it and shoved the box back into the corner of the shelf. The less you had to see of it, the better.

“Dinner is ready!” your mom called up the stairs.

“C’mon, Fergus,” you said, opening the door to your bedroom.

Fergus immediately perked up at the sound of your voice. When he saw you standing by the open door, he rolled up to a standing position and followed you out of the room. Your mind was still reeling with a million thoughts, but for now you just had to focus on the present.


	5. Chapter 5

**July 9th, 2005**

You sat up for a second, reaching over and grabbing your drink from where it was sitting on the pavement nearby. Tyler turned to look at you, but didn’t say anything. You took a long drink before setting it back down and returning to laying down in the grass.

“Hey, I think that’s a satellite!” Tyler said, pointing up at the sky.

“Where?” you asked, trying to follow his finger to where he was pointing, but to no avail.

“There, Y/N, don’t you see it?”

“Ty, you’re pointing at the sky. It’s nearly impossible to tell what you’re pointing at,” you laughed.

“Fine,” Tyler grumbled.

He scooted over so that his head was just about pressed up to yours. After a moment of adjusting, he grabbed your arm and forced your fingers to point. You complied as he pointed your arm up to the sky and turned to look at you.

“You have to close one eye for it to work!” he said.

You couldn’t help but smile as you closed one eye and followed the line that your arm now formed.

“Do you see it?” he asked.

“Yes, Ty, I see it,” you grumbled.

“Good,” he smiled proudly before returning to where he had been laying before.

You could just make out the sound of your parents still talking inside. It was typical for them to talk long past dinner while you and Tyler found something else to entertain yourselves. Tonight, that was laying in his backyard and stargazing.

“What do you think the sky looks like in Los Angeles?” Tyler asked.

“Probably a lot like it does here, but with a lot more light pollution. I doubt you can see many stars,” you answered. “Why do you ask?”

“I’ve always wondered what life is like in other places. Our town is great and all, but there isn’t too much to do. I can’t really launch my music career from a small town in the middle of nowhere.”

“Are you saying you’re going to leave me as soon as you get the chance?” you asked, half joking. There was an undeniable undertone of panic in your voice that you weren’t sure if Tyler would notice.

“Not if you come with me,” he said. “I mean, you can be an author from anywhere, really. Why not California?”

You propped yourself up on your elbows so that you could see Tyler better. He had to be joking, the unspoken assumption had always been that you two would go to college close to home and then move back and start a family with your college sweetheart in the same town you grew up in.

“Ty, you can’t be serious about moving to California.”

He propped himself up on his elbows too and turned to face you. You expected him to be laughing or smiling, but instead he had a serious expression on his face.

“Why not? There’s nothing for us here, Y/N. Who’s to say we can’t pack up and leave? We’d still have each other.”

You turned to look back up at the stars, “It’s pretty ambitious, but I guess if we really plan it right, we could make it work.”

“So you’re saying you would move to California with me?”

“Sure, why not?”

“You’re the best person ever, you know that?”

“Yeah, I do,” you laughed.

Tyler held out a hand, causing you to raise your eyebrows in question. “We have to shake on it. I can’t have you backing out on me at the last minute.” You reached over and shook his hand, causing him to smile widely at you. “What part of California should we live in?” Tyler said, fully laying back down on the grass. You followed suit.

“Wherever is cheapest,” you joked.

“I know you meant that jokingly, but you’re not wrong,” Tyler answered.

The sound of the glass door sliding open behind you drew your attention away from the conversation you had been having. Tyler’s mom was making her way outside, carrying a couple dishes of something. You and Tyler both sat up and turned to face her.

“Hey, Mom,” Tyler smiled.

“Hey, guys. How’s it going out here?”

“Good,” you and Tyler answered in unison.

“Oh good. I thought you two might want some dessert, so I brought you some ice cream.”

“Really?” you smiled widely.

Tyler’s mom smiled as she walked over to you two and handed you each your bowls. Chocolate for you and strawberry for Tyler.

“Thank you so much,” you said,

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Of course. Now, I won’t bother you two much more.”

She walked back inside and closed the door behind her. Inside, you could see all of your parents sitting around the table, eating their own bowls of ice cream.

“Your mom is the coolest,” you said as you took your first bite of ice cream.

“Don’t act like she isn’t practically your mom too,” Tyler laughed.

You shook your head even though you knew he was right. The Josephs were basically your second family at this point.

You and Tyler sat quietly while you ate your ice cream. The only sound was the occasional dog barking and your spoons clinking against the edge of your bowls. Stars continued to appear in the sky up above.

“Do you think we’ll actually be able to do it?” you asked.

“Do what?” Tyler asked before taking another large bite of ice cream.

“Move to California and, you know, make something of ourselves.”

Tyler set his spoon down and turned to you with the most serious look he could muster on his face.

“Y/N, when have we ever not been able to do something?”

“Well, there was that time that we tried to get into the movie theatre as one person by having me sit on your shoulders. Or the time that you tried to kayak down the homemade slip and slide we made in your grandpa’s backyard. Oh! And the time that I tried to hide your candy stash under my mattress and all the chocolate melted-”

“Ok, I get it!” Tyler laughed. “But this is different. You and I both really want this, and we’re not going to let anything get in our way, right?”

“Right.”

“We just have to believe in ourselves. And when we can’t do that, we just have to believe in each other.”

“If you say so.”

“I don’t just say so. I know we can do this.”

The glass door slid open again, only this time it was your mom who was poking her head outside.

“Y/N, it’s time to start wrapping things up. We need to get your father home so that he can get enough sleep for work tomorrow.”

“Ok, Mom.”

You quickly polished off your ice cream and stood up from the grass. Tyler got up soon after you and followed you inside. He graciously took your bowl from you and carried it to the sink so that you could put your shoes on.

“Thank you for dinner, it was delicious,” your mom smiled.

“You three are welcome anytime,” Tyler’s mom said.

Tyler walked over and pulled you into a hug.

“We’ll start planning next time you come over,” he whispered in your ear.

You nodded and winked slyly at him, which he smiled widely at. Your dad was already halfway out the door, so you quickly caught up with him on the way to the car. You bit on your lip to hide the smile that threatened to take over your face, knowing that your family would question you the second they saw you beaming. They had no idea what was coming.


	6. Chapter 6

**July 2nd, 2017**

“Y/F/N, I am not going to allow you to sit in this car all night,” your mom said sternly, finally getting fed up with your antics.

“I can’t do it, Mom,” you mumbled. “I can’t see him.”

“You are a grown ass adult and so help me if you do not get out of this car…”

You reached for the car door handle only to pull it back into your lap a second later. The anxiety swirling in your stomach was swelling up, and your mom practically yelling in your ear was no help.

“They are inside waiting for us, now let’s go.”

You took a deep breath, bit down on your lip, and opened the car door. As soon as you were out of the car, you knew you would be able to get in the front door. It was the just the first step of it all that you needed a little shove with.

“Thank goodness,” your mom huffed, getting out of the driver’s seat. “Now let’s get you inside before you decide to get back in the car.”

You nodded and followed your mom up the little stone path that led to the front door of the house. It had been a few weeks since you had stepped foot inside the house. Your mom had dinner with the Josephs once a week, but you rarely joined them anymore, being inside the house still brought back too many painful memories.

Your heart skipped a beat when your mom knocked on the door. She reached over and gave your hand a reassuring squeeze. As frustrated as she had been with you in the car, she still knew how hard this was for you and wanted to make sure that you didn’t get too overwhelmed. Much to your relief, it was Tyler’s mom that opened the door.

“Y/M/N! Y/N!” she smiled cheerily. “I’m so glad you could make it.” You gave her a quick smile before glancing behind her, looking for any sign of Tyler. There weren’t any, but that didn’t stop your hands from getting clammy. “Why don’t you two come inside?”

You followed your mom into the entryway of the house. In the kitchen, you could hear Tyler’s dad talking with who could only be Tyler. You kicked off your shoes by the door and followed your mom into the kitchen, stomach twisting.

Your stomach dropped when you finally caught sight of him. He was leaning against the counter, holding a glass of water and talking casually with his dad. His appearance was much different than the last time you had seen him: tattoos covered most of his arms, his hair was more well kempt than it was in high school, and he looked more confident. The sound of footsteps must have drawn his attention, because soon he was turning to look at you, his eyes landing on you almost immediately. You watched as his smile faltered for a second, there was no doubt he was thinking the same thing about you.

“Y/N!” he smiled, setting his cup down on the counter and walking towards you with arms open wide. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”

You hesitantly held out your arms and returned his hug. It felt weird to be this close to him again, last time you had seen him you had both just graduated high school and still looked like kids. A lot had changed since then.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” you said, half laughing.

He stepped back and took a second to look over you, more obviously now, “You’ve barely changed.”

“I wish I could say the same about you,” you said, just quiet enough that your parents wouldn’t hear. His smile faltered again and he nodded curtly.

“It’s so nice to see you two together again,” his mom smiled. “How long has it been? Nine years?”

“Ten,” you answered her.

“Ten, wow,” she sighed. The oven began to beep, drawing her attention away from the conversation which you were thankful for. “Looks like dinner is almost ready,” she announced, pulling a pan of something out of the oven. “Should just be a few more minutes.”

Tyler leaned down so that he was mere centimeters away from you, “Do you mind if we talk outside for a bit?”

“Sure.”

He grabbed his water from the counter before leading you out into the backyard. You closed the sliding glass door behind you and took a seat in one of the patio chairs. The evening air was warm, and the sky was just beginning to turn into shades of pink and orange as the sun set.

“How have you been?” Tyler asked.

You turned to look at him, “Ty, we’ve known each other for twenty-nine years. There’s no need for formalities,” you said.

“We haven’t seen one another in ten years, Y/N. Do we really know each other?”

“Maybe we would if you had answered my calls,” you huffed, crossing your arms.

“Listen, I didn’t come out here to fight with you. I know we’ve both probably done some things we regret.” You raised your eyebrows at this statement. “And-well-do you want to get coffee tomorrow so we can talk through some of this?”

You cast your eyes down to your feet. It was true, you had been holding a grudge against him since the day he left and didn’t return your calls, but there had also been a time when he was your best friend. It seemed only fair that you gave him a second chance.

“I have work tomorrow at ten, but I’m free before then.”

“8 o’clock? At the coffee place we used to go to?”

“Sure.”

“It’s a date.” You turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. “Friend date,” he corrected himself, though there was a bit of color on his cheeks that hadn’t been there before.

The two of you stood up and walked back inside where your parents were standing around the kitchen counter. Tyler’s mom was finishing up one more dish, while his dad and your mom were discussing some topic over glasses of wine.

“You two are back just in time,” Tyler’s mom smiled. “It’s time to eat!”

The five of you formed a small line around the counter, dishing up the various foods that Tyler’s mom had prepared. Once you had all gotten enough food to last you a lifetime, you sat down at the table. You, of course, ended up between your mom and Tyler.

“So, Tyler, why don’t you tell us a little bit more about being a famous musician?” your mom asked.

Tyler was quick to launch into a discussion about his music. It might have been bearable had your mom not continued to ask him question after question until you knew practically every detail about his life. By the time he finally stopped, half of your food had been eaten.

“What about your writing, Y/N? How is that going?” Tyler’s dad asked.

You shrugged and poked a bit at your food, “It’s alright. I’m still working on my rough draft, it’s hard for me to write something that I really like.”

He nodded thoughtfully, “I’m still looking forward to it.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you still writing the one about the pirates?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah,” you answered, feeling a bit more embarrassed now that Tyler had just talked about all of his success.

“I always liked that one,” he smiled.

“Thanks,” you mumbled. A small smile crept across your face, and you quickly looked down at your plate to hide it. You were supposed to be holding a grudge against him, not blushing at every compliment he gave you like you used to in high school.

It didn’t take long for Tyler’s dad to begin discussing something that had happened recently in town. Your moms were also eager to join in, yet again leaving you and Tyler totally in the dark. It was something that had happened a lot at your family dinners in high school, though it wasn’t something you had expected to happen when you and Tyler were full grown adults. You were unsure of what to say to Tyler, so you opted for eating quietly and listening to the parents talk.

They continued to talk until well past the time that they had finished eating. Eventually, you gave your mom a light tap on the shoulder and reminded her that you should get going so that you could get some good sleep before work tomorrow. You carried your dishes into the kitchen and helped the Josephs clean a bit before you gave everyone a quick hug and headed out to the car.

“See, was that so bad?” your mom asked as she closed the car door behind her.

“I’m getting coffee with Tyler tomorrow,” you said plainly.

“Are you really?” your mom asked excitedly.

“It doesn’t mean anything, Mom. We’re just catching up.” Your mom had been hoping that you and Tyler would get together since high school, and apparently that dream still remained even ten years later.

“If you say so,” she said, starting the car. “There could still be something there.”


	7. Chapter 7

**April 16th, 2006**

“Yo!” Tyler yelled. “That was sick! Y/N, did you see that?”

You rested your finger at the end of the sentence you had just finished reading and looked up at Tyler. “No, what happened?”

“No!” he yelled dramatically, dropping his arms from their outstretched position and turning to grab the basketball. “I just made the coolest three pointer and you missed it!”

“Sorry, Ty,” you said, looking back down at your book.

Tyler once again began to dribble around the basketball court, occasionally yelling as he made a particularly good, or particularly bad, shot. After awhile, he walked over so that he was standing in front of you, his basketball tucked under one arm and sweat dripping down his forehead.

“What are you reading?” he asked between breaths. You held up the book so that he could see the cover, your eyes never leaving the page. “That one again? Haven’t you read it like five times?”

You stuck your bookmark in your book, figuring that this was going to be a longer conversation that warranted your full attention, “Six, actually. And yes, I’m reading it again because it’s my favorite book and it never gets old.”

“Why don’t you shoot some hoops with me?” he asked, sticking his bottom lip out.

“Because I suck at basketball. Haven’t we had this conversation a million times before, Ty?”

“Yes, but I’m having it again because it’s my favorite conversation and it never gets old,” he mimicked you. You rolled your eyes and set your book down in the grass next to you.

“Is it ok if I just watch you play basketball?” you asked.

“Come on, Y/N. One free throw?”

You sighed, knowing you wouldn’t be able to resist his pleas. Tyler smiled widely as you pushed yourself up from the grass and dusted your jeans off. He tossed you the basketball which you barely caught. You hesitantly walked up to the free throw line and lined up your shot; it flew through the air and unceremoniously bounced off the rim and rolled into the grass.

“You know, I expected you to do a lot worse,” Tyler said.

You gave him a light shove as you walked past him to pick up the basketball. He gracefully caught it as you tossed it to him on your way back to your sunny spot in the grass.

“Y/N, watch this,” Tyler said.

You looked over to where Tyler was lining up a three point shot. In the back of your mind, you knew you were supposed to be paying attention to the shot he was making, but you were too distracted by him. You couldn’t help but admire the way the muscles in his arms moved as he took a shot and the way he stuck his tongue out just a little when he was really focused. Just as he was about to make a basket, you managed to shake yourself out of your thoughts and pay attention to what was going on. Tyler had been your best friend for as long as you could remember, having feelings for him wasn’t really an option.

“Almost,” he sighed as the ball rolled around the rim and fell to the ground.

“It was still a good shot,” you reassured him.

“Thanks,” he said, bouncing the ball a bit. “Hey, you want to go swing for a little bit? I think the little kids finally forked them over.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

You tossed your book into your bag and pulled it over your shoulder. Tyler lifted his shirt up and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and once again you had to stop yourself from staring. You glanced away just before he dropped his shirt back down. “Gross,” he grimaced.

You fell into step with Tyler as you headed over towards the swingset. As you got closer, Tyler took off at a sprint and stole the best swing from you, haphazardly tossing his basketball in the bark chips.

“Ty!” you whined, half jogging to catch up. “That isn’t fair!”

“Yes it is!” he said, pushing himself off the ground and beginning to swing. “I got here first, so I got the best swing.”

“You can’t take off running for something without announcing a race first!” you argued. “We’ve had that rule in effect since first grade.”

You tossed your stuff next to the swingset and climbed onto the closest swing to Tyler. He was already flying back and forth when you kicked off from the ground.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I forgot.”

“Are you really trying to tell me that you magically forgot a rule that we’ve had for almost ten years?”

“Uh, yes,” Tyler said in quite possibly the most unconvincing tone possible.

You shook your head. Next to you, Tyler was smiling widely as he swung back and forth. It was hard not to stare while he did so, he looked so happy and carefree. This side of him was rare these days, with the stress of school and his mental health getting to him a lot of the time. That’s why you treasured these stress-free days with him so much.

“Do you have a game this weekend, Ty?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a tournament in the next town over this weekend.”

“Oh.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well I was going to ask if you wanted to go into the city, but if you’re busy then it doesn’t really matter.”

“How about we go next weekend?”

“That should work for me.”

“And you’re going to come to my tournament this weekend?”

“Are you kidding? I never miss a game.”

“Good, I need my good luck charm there.”

You felt color rise to your cheeks at his statement, even though you knew he meant it in a completely platonic way. It was hard not to get your hopes up sometimes. Your attention was quickly drawn by Tyler launching himself out of his swing and landing semi-gracefully on the ground below. You, on the other hand, gradually brought yourself to a stop.

“Do you know what we should do?” he smiled widely.

“What?”

“We should race down the slides.”

“Ty, that’s crazy.”

“Which is exactly why we should do it!”

You glanced around the park. There weren’t too many adults, or kids for that matter, so you figured there was no harm in racing down the slides a few times.

“Fine, but only a few times. I need to get home for dinner soon.”

Tyler quickly scooped up his basketball and took off for the play structure. You took your time grabbing your bag and following after him. By the time you finally got over to where he was, he was sitting at the top of the slide and looking eagerly at you.

“Come on, slowpoke! We haven’t got all day.”

You rolled your eyes at him as you climbed up to where he was sitting. There was barely enough time for you to sit down and adjust yourself at the top of the slide before Tyler was counting down and the two of you were pushing yourselves down the slide. He barely won, mostly due to the fact that he stood up and jumped off the slide at the very end.

“You’re just breaking all the rules today,” you said as you clambered off the slide.

“I’m not breaking any rules,” Tyler defended himself. “Just bending them.”

You crossed your arms, “Yeah, bending them so you win every time.”

“Exactly!”

“Next time we race, you have to slide the entire way. No jumping.”

“Fine, but I’m still going to win.”

“I’m sure you are,” you said sarcastically. You both climbed to the top of the play structure and took your places on the slide. “I’m counting down this time.” Tyler gave you a quick nod. “3, 2, 1, go!”

The both of you pushed off the slide and rushed to the bottom. Your smaller size ended up being to your benefit, since Tyler’s longer legs got him caught in the curves of the slide. You triumphantly placed your feet on the bark chips as Tyler came sliding around the final curve, a frown plastered on his face.

“So you win without cheating, huh?” you asked slyly, crossing your arms.

Tyler rolled his eyes, “Now we’re even.”

“We are not! You cheated, so my win is the only legitimate one. Therefore, I am the winner.”

“Whatever, Y/N.”

“You’re just bitter because you lost,” you said, lightly poking him in the side. He curled away from your touch, unable to hide his smile from you tickling him. “Now I need to get home for dinner before my mom gets mad.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“Are you sure? Isn’t it like an extra fifteen minutes for you?”

“Yeah, but I like spending time with you.”

You bit down on your lip to keep yourself from smiling too widely at his statement. It probably meant nothing, but just knowing that Tyler enjoyed your company was reassuring.

“Alright, let’s go then.”

Tyler picked up his basketball from nearby and handed you your bag. You slung it over your shoulder and headed down the sidewalk towards your house, Tyler quickly falling into step with you. The two of you talked all the way home, and before you knew it you were standing outside your house.

“I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Tyler said, rocking back and forth on his heels.

“Yeah,” you nodded, not sure what else to say.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Ty.”

You started to walk in the house when you heard Tyler yell something over his shoulder, “I totally won those races earlier today!”

“Keep telling yourself that,” you called back.

You stood on the deck and watched Tyler walk away down the street for a bit longer than you’d like to admit. Once he was finally out of sight, you walked inside.


	8. Chapter 8

**July 3rd, 2017**

Your hands were shaking before you had even shut the car engine off. Tyler’s old car was already in the parking lot, you could have recognized it from a mile away. The car door creaked as you opened it and stepped out onto the pavement.

You spotted Tyler almost as soon as you stepped inside. He was sitting at one of the tables near the center of the café, hunched over what could only be his phone. His back was turned to you, providing you with a slight advantage. You considered turning back for a second, but the small part of you that actually wanted to reconnect with him pushed you forward.

“Hey, Ty,” you said quietly, taking a seat across from him.

He looked up from his phone and hastily stuffed it in his pocket, a smile creeping across his face, “Hi.”

“Did you already order?” you asked.

“No, I was waiting for you.”

You should have known.

“What are we waiting for then?” you asked with a smile, trying to lighten the tension a bit.

The two of you stood up and walked over to the counter. As you waited in line, you fished around in your wallet for a few crumpled dollar bills. It was only when you emerged with a handful of them that you noticed Tyler motioning for you to stop.

“What?” you asked.

“I’ve got you covered.”

“Are you sure? I have enough,” you said, holding up the crumpled money for proof.

“Y/N, it’s been ten years. Don’t I kind of owe you?”

“I don’t want to force you to pay for me,” you trailed off.

“Please, let me do it just this once.”

“I suppose,” you finally caved, stuffing the money back into your wallet. Maybe you could use the money to take your mom out to coffee sometime, she would like that.

“What are you getting?”

“Hot chocolate.”

“You really haven’t changed, you know that?” he smiled.

You raised an eyebrow at him, “Maybe that’s what you think.”

He opened his mouth to retaliate, but the person in front of you in line finished ordering and he was forced to step up to the counter and order instead. You looked at all the mugs in a nearby display while Tyler ordered your drinks. When he was finished, you returned to the table that you had previously been sitting at.

“So,” Tyler said drumming his fingers along the edge of the table.

“There’s a lot to cover,” you sighed. “Where do you want to start?”

You and Tyler made small talk for awhile. He seemed to be skirting around any serious topics, meanwhile there were a million things you were dying to ask him.

“You know, I’m surprised you’re still here,” Tyler said before taking a long sip of his drink.

You ran your finger around the edge of your cup, “What do you mean?”

“I thought you would have left this town a long time ago. I mean, that was always the plan, wasn’t it?”

“I-I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Why not?”

You took a deep breath, emotions were already started to build up inside you. “Um, well, when my dad got sick he had to stop working and I stuck around to be with him and help my mom out around the house. Then, when he passed away,” you paused to wipe a fallen tear away from your cheek. “My mom wasn’t able to support herself and keep the house, so I got a job to boost our income a bit. Even now, the two of us are barely making enough to be comfortable.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t realize-”

You shook your head, “You aren’t sorry, Ty.”

He leaned back in his chair and bit his lip, there really wasn’t a way for him to win that argument.

“I wanted to stay,” he trailed off.

“So why didn’t you?”

“I was afraid that if I didn’t leave then, I never would.”

“Well I guess you made the right call because look at me now,” you said, exasperation just barely detectable in your voice.

“Why didn’t you go to college?”

“Couldn’t afford it. Trust me, Tyler, I’ve thought of a million things I could have done differently, but in the end staying home was the only option I really had.”

“Is that really what you’ve been doing for the last ten years?” he asked, eyebrows knit together. Whether he was confused or sympathetic, you couldn’t tell; it was like looking at a stranger again.

“Yeah, my mom is the most important thing in my life right now. And Fergus, I suppose.”

“Who’s Fergus?” Tyler asked, suddenly growing defensive.

“A dog that my mom and I got.” Tyler relaxed a bit. “He’s a golden retriever and one of the most energetic dogs I’ve ever met,” you smiled. “But we’re getting off topic.”

“Sorry, that was my fault.”

“How’s California? Is it everything we ever dreamed of?” you asked, a slight smile tugging at the corner of your lips.

Tyler shrugged, “It’s alright. At first it was weird that I didn’t know every person I passed on the street by name, but I quickly got used to it. You were right about the stars though, the light pollution makes it near impossible to see them.”

You raised your eyebrows at his statement, surprised that he remembered something you had said so long ago. “You like living there though?”

“Yeah, the weather is really nice. The sun is good for me, and there’s plenty of places to play music.”

“That’s good.” Tyler nodded, effectively putting an end to the conversation you were having. You pulled your phone out and checked the time. “Oh shoot, my shift starts in twenty minutes.”

“You have to leave already?” Tyler asked, mouth downturning slightly.

“Yeah,” you said, standing up and slinging your bag over your shoulder. “This was fun though, I’m glad we got a chance to catch up.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Tyler stood up and pulled you into a hug. You started to walk off, but he called after you, “Hey, Y/N?”

You spun around, “Yeah?”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to, but would you maybe want to see each other again before I leave?”

“Are you going to answer if I text you to try and plan it?”

“Yes, and that’s a promise.”

“I’m holding you to that,” you said, pointing to him as you slowly started to back towards the door.

“I expect you to.”

You gave him one final wave before turning and walking out of the café. Something in the back of your mind was telling you that you were going down a dangerous path, but you pushed it to the side. For the first time in ten years, you felt like you had your best friend again.


	9. Chapter 9

**February 20th, 2006**

“Are you nervous?” you asked as Tyler grabbed his duffel bag from the backseat of the car.

“I don’t think nervous scratches the surface of how I’m feeling right now,” he answered, slamming the car door closed. “Thanks for coming early with me, I don’t think I could do this alone.”

“Of course,” you said, walking around the car to join him. “That’s what best friends do. Besides, there’s no way I would want to drive three towns over on my own to try and find some building I had never been to before.”

You followed Tyler into the brick building that loomed ahead of you. The sun was just beginning to set outside, and the city block that you were on seemed deserted. You were suddenly very glad that you hadn’t let Tyler come alone.

“You must be Tyler Joseph!” an older man said, walking out to greet you two from behind a counter. He was tall, six feet at least, and his dark hair was peppered with gray. This must have been the guy Tyler had talked to on the phone, he seemed nice enough.

“That’s me,” Tyler smiled, shifting his stuff to one side so that he could shake the man’s hand. “Thank you again for this opportunity, you have no idea how much it means to me.”

“Of course, the demo you sent me was fantastic and I think our patrons will love it.” The man’s eyes landed on you. “Excuse my manners, my name is Samuel James. I’m the owner of this lounge,” he said, extending a hand to you.

“Y/F/N Y/L/N, I’m Tyler’s friend.”

“A roadie, huh?” he smiled, clapping a hand on your shoulder. You smiled nervously. “Follow me, I’ll show you where you can put your things.”

You and Tyler followed Samuel to a small room near the back of the lounge. Inside was a couch, a table and two chairs, and a mirror. Tyler set his stuff down on the table and collapsed into the chair.

“I’ll leave you two to prepare for the show. I have some things to prepare for tonight, anyway. I’ll come back here and give you a five minute warning before you go on, remember you start at seven.”

“Actually, can I ask you one more thing?”

“Of course.”

“Do you mind saving a seat towards the front for Y/N? I’d like her back here while I get ready, but I don’t want her to miss out on a good seat.”

“You truly are a musician, making demands of your host,” Samuel said. You and Tyler froze in fear, but Samuel quickly burst out laughing. “I’m only joking, that’s no problem at all.”

“Thank you,” Tyler said, although he was still visibly nervous.

You gave Samuel a small smile before he walked off. Once he was out of the room, you walked over and took a seat on the couch. It was more comfortable than it looked.

“This is so weird,” Tyler said as he dug around in his duffel bag. “I’m actually playing a gig.”

“It’s amazing, Ty! I’m beyond proud of you.”

“I just hope I don’t mess up. Also, can you close your eyes? I need to change.”

“I’ve seen you shirtless before, Ty,” you said, throwing a hand over your eyes. “And you’re not going to mess up, you’ve practiced all of these songs like a hundred times each.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he sighed.

“One of these days you’ll finally learn that I’m always right,” you laughed.

“You are not!”

“I am.”

“Ok, you can open your eyes.”

You pulled your hand away from your eyes and looked at Tyler. He had changed from his t-shirt into a hoodie and dark jeans.

“Do I look ok?” he asked, holding his arms out.

“Give me a twirl.”

He spun around and struck a pose at the end.

“You look wonderful, Ty.”

“Really?”

“I promise.”

“Ok.” Tyler turned and looked himself over in the mirror, making miniscule adjustments to his jacket and pants. “Alright, I’m going to start doing vocal warm ups so don’t laugh at me.”

“No promises,” you said as you made yourself comfortable on the couch.

You grabbed your camera from your bag and began to fiddle with some of the settings while Tyler practiced. Since neither of you exactly had any money to pay for an actual photographer, you two had decided to take pictures yourself, despite your complete lack of experience with photography.

“Tyler, can you turn around for a second?” you asked.

Tyler stopped making weird noises and spun to face you, “What’s up?”

“Say cheese,” you smiled, holding the camera up and snapping a quick picture.

“What did you do that for?” he asked.

“Every good musician has photos of themselves backstage before a show, and you’re no exception. Not to mention that I need to make sure the camera is going to work in this lighting.”

“Got it.”

You continued to take practice pictures until Samuel walked back in the room, announcing that there were five minutes until Tyler went on.

“I’m nervous,” Tyler said, fiddling loosely with the end of his jacket sleeve.

“You’re going to do great, and I’m going to be there the whole time. I’ve heard you sing these songs a million times, you know them, Ty.”

He nodded, though you knew your words were empty to him. You walked over and pulled him into a hug; he held onto you tightly.

“I’m beyond proud of you, Tyler.”

“Thank you. You should get out there before someone decides to steal your seat.”

“Yeah, good plan,” you said, releasing him from the hug. “I’ll see you after the show.”

Tyler nodded and you walked out of the room. You were surprised at the number of people that had shown up for the show when you walked back out to the main part of the building. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near full, but it was more than you and Tyler had anticipated to show up to a random seventeen year old’s show.

One of the tables at the front had a small piece of paper on it marked with the word “reserved”. You hopped up onto the stool and set your camera down in front of you. There was the quiet hum of conversation around you, but it died down quickly when Samuel took the stage.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Samuel James and I’m the owner of this fine establishment. Tonight, we’re going to give a warm welcome to Mr. Tyler Joseph, an independent musician from a few towns over. Without further ado, here he is!”

Tyler walked onto the stage, and you could immediately tell he was nervous. His hands were shaking as he walked up to the mic and adjusted it to his height.

“Hi,” he smiled. “My name is Tyler, and I’m going to be playing some music that I wrote.”

You took a couple pictures as he stood at the mic. His focus remained mostly on you as he talked, and you made sure to give him a reassuring smile. Tyler walked over and took a seat at the piano. As soon as he began to play, you noticed him visibly relax. This was what he loved to do.

Just over an hour later, Tyler finished his performance and thanked everyone once again. You waited until he had walked off stage to get out of your seat and follow after him.

Tyler was standing in front of the mirror when you walked in the room, still wearing his hoodie. He turned around once he heard you enter the room.

“How was it?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed together.

“Fantastic, Ty. I loved it.”

“Did everyone else?”

“I didn’t stay long enough to hear what people said afterwards, but I think they were pretty impressed during the performance.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Tyler started beaming, and you couldn’t help but smile at how happy he was. Deep down, you had been afraid that his performance wouldn’t go well and it would ruin his confidence, but thankfully that hadn’t ended up being the case.

“I can’t believe it. I actually played a gig.”

“You did, and I think I got some really good pictures.”

“I can’t wait to see them.”

“Me too.”

Tyler walked over and pulled you into a hug, “Thank you so much for coming with me. It means the world.”

“Of course, Ty. You know I’m going to be your biggest supporter no matter what.”

“Alright, I’m going to get changed and then we should get going. We have school tomorrow.”

“I still have math homework to finish,” you sighed. “It’s going to be a late night.”

“Worth it though, right?”

“Definitely.”


	10. Chapter 10

**July 5th, 2017**

The sun was shining down on you and Tyler as you walked around the lake. Fergus was walking along happily behind you, stopping every so often to smell something interesting along the path. The walk had been peaceful so far, but you knew there was still tension bubbling beneath the surface.

“And Josh, he’s just a great guy. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be in a band with. Every day is an adventure with him.”

You nodded along thoughtfully, trying not to let the fact that you were jealous show. “I’m glad that you’ve been able to find such great people in California,” you forced a smile.

“Yeah,” Tyler sighed. “Nobody quite like you though, Y/N.” There was a pause in the conversation as you tried to process what he had said. “How have things been here with you?”

You shrugged, “I’ve been pretty lonely, I suppose. I’m so burnt out after work that I don’t really get out much, and all the people we knew in high school either moved away or have started families by now, so I don’t really fit in. There’s one girl at work I like, but she has a baby at home and she doesn’t really have the opportunity to get out much because her boyfriend left her and she can’t afford a babysitter.”

You mentally reprimanded yourself for rambling so much to him. Even though it was probably already obvious to him, you didn’t want it to come across like you were struggling.

“Oh, I’m-uh-sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine,” you lied. “I didn’t mean to dump that all on you, it just kind of came out.”

“No worries. We’re friends, remember?”

“Right,” you answered, although you weren’t too convinced.

The conversation came to a stopping point. Neither of you were sure of how to continue the conversation at that point. You decided that if you were going to bring up any serious topics, now was as good a time as any.

“Can I ask you a serious question, Ty?”

“Sure.”

“After you left, why didn’t you pick up any of my calls?”

Tyler let out a long breath of air, “I don’t know.”

“No,” you said. “You don’t just ignore the best friend that you’ve had for eighteen years, there has to be a reason behind it.”

You looked over at Tyler as the two of you walked. His face was downcast, and he was shuffling his feet a bit more than he had been before. For a moment, you were afraid he wasn’t going to answer you. He finally took a deep breath and broke the silence.

“I didn’t pick up because I was afraid you were going to yell at me or say you hated me. If I never picked up, then I could always tell myself you still cared.”

“All I wanted was my best friend.”

“I know, and I still hate myself for how I treated you.”

“You had so many chances to make it right, Ty. Did you get all my birthday messages?”

Tyler sighed and nodded. Your eyes began to sting and you looked up, trying to blink away the tears.

“There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I don’t think of you and how I left.”

You shook your head, “I can say the same.”

The two of you quickly became distracted by Fergus rolling around in something on the side of the path. You hastily wiped away tears before walking over to see what he had gotten himself in to. Thankfully, it was only some strongly scented flowers that he had apparently wanted to smell like. It took a bit of stern talking, but you eventually got him to follow you again.

You didn’t want to be the one to break the silence, so you waited for Tyler to talk. His eyes were a bit teary, but you found it hard to be sympathetic for him after what he had put you through.

“I wanted to come back to visit earlier, but things that I had to do just kept popping up and I couldn’t find enough time to get away and come back. I’m not proud of how I handled things, but at the time focusing on my career was the right call.”

“I understand that, Ty, but that’s no excuse for not taking ten minutes out of your day to let me know you were alright. Until you started to pop up in news articles, for all I knew you could have been dead.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I want to make things right, I really do.”

You looked down at your feet, a million thoughts running through your head. One part of you wanted to make things right and have your best friend back. For the first time in ten years, there might be something in your life that felt right again. After all, having Tyler back in your life had been the one thing you wanted more than anything else, right?

The other part of you knew it was a terrible idea. In a few days, he would go back to California and you would still be stuck at home working the same job, barely making it by with your mom, and wondering when things would change; having Tyler back wasn’t going to single handedly fix that. And what was to stop him from cutting off contact as soon as he got back to his normal life in California?

“So do I,” you said, disregarding all the doubts running through your mind. There was so much more that you wanted to talk to him about, but you held your tongue.

Tyler turned to look at you, “You do?”

You nodded and tried to smile despite the fact that you were biting down on your lip. “Just one thing.”

“What?”

“I want to make sure you mean it. You can’t get back to California and act like I never existed again.”

“Trust me, Y/N, I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

“I hope you mean that.”

The two of you started to slow down as you reached the small parking lot at the start of the path. You fished around in your coat pocket until you found your beat-up car keys. Next to you, Tyler was doing the same.

“I do. You know, Y/N, I’m really glad you’re willing to make things better. I know I was an asshole, but I’m trying to be better.”

“Yeah,” you said, forcing a smile.

“See you around?”

“You know where I live,” you joked.

Tyler waved at you before turning and walking to his car. By the time your brain actually got your hand to move at all, he had already turned his back. You slid into the driver’s seat of the car and stuck the keys in the ignition before leaning back against the seat and closing your eyes.

“Please don’t let this be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” you sighed.


	11. Chapter 11

**January 29th, 2005**

You knocked on the door before taking a step back. Not long after, you could hear footsteps inside, most likely Tyler. You hoped that he wouldn’t be too upset that you were a few minutes late, even though the movie didn’t start for another hour and the bike ride was only twenty minutes.

To your surprise, Tyler’s mom was the one to open the door. She looked a bit shocked to see you, but you didn’t think anything of it. More often than not, Tyler forgot to mention that you were coming over to his family.

“Y/N, I didn’t expect to see you,” she smiled. “Do you want to come in?”

“Sure,” you said, walking into the entryway of the house. “I won’t be here long, Tyler and I are going to see a movie tonight.”

“What time?” she asked.

“Well it starts in about an hour, but we were going to leave in a little bit.”

“That’s odd, Tyler said that he was going out with teammates until late tonight.”

“Oh,” you said, your heart sinking. “I didn’t realize, I’m sorry to bother you.”

“You’re never a bother, dear. Do you want me to let Tyler know that you stopped by?”

“That would be great, thank you.”

Mrs. Joseph gave you a pat on the shoulder as you walked back outside. You grabbed your bike from where it was leaned against the garage and started off for the movie theatre.

 

You opened the front door and tossed your stuff next to the staircase. The movie had been good, although you had gotten quite a few weird stares for being there alone. You had tried to brush it off, but you couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward the entire time.

“Y/N! Is that you?” your mom asked, poking her head out from the kitchen.

“Yeah, it’s me,” you sighed.

“Tyler has been calling for you. I told him you were at the movies and you would call him back as soon as you got home.”

“I’m not going to call him back,” you grumbled before stomping up the stairs.

Your mom called after you, but you ignored her and continued up to your room. You had been around enough people, you just needed to be alone for awhile.

Twenty minutes later, something kept tapping at your window. You thought it might be a bird until you saw the unmistakable shape of a rock hit the glass pane. If it was Tyler, he wasn’t going to stop until he got your attention, and you really weren’t in a mood to listen to an incessant tapping sound for half an hour.

You forced the window open and stuck your head out. As expected, Tyler was down in the yard searching for more pebbles to throw at your window.

“Would you stop throwing rocks at my window? You’re going to scratch it and my dad is not going to be very happy with me.”

“Y/N!” he smiled happily. “I’m glad I got your attention. Can we talk?”

“What? Did your teammates have to go home and you don’t have any other options?”

“See? This is exactly why we need to talk.”

You rolled your eyes, “I’ll be down in a second.” You shut the window and grabbed a blanket off your bed before walking down the stairs. “I’m going outside to talk to Tyler for a bit.”

“Ok, but don’t stay out too long! I don’t want you to get sick,” your mom called.

“I have a blanket,” you said before closing the front door behind you.

Tyler was standing at the bottom of the steps. His jacket sleeves were pulled down over his hands, and he looked cold. You walked forward and sat down on the top step before holding a blanket-covered arm out. As mad as you were, you didn’t want him to freeze either.

“I just want to start by saying I’m so sorry that I forgot about our plans today. The guys called and I said ok without thinking.”

“I understand being forgetful, Ty, but this is the third time that you’ve forgotten about our plans and hung out with the basketball team instead.”

Tyler sighed, “I know it is. I’m just having such a hard time fitting in with those guys so I don’t want to say no when they ask me to hang out. I haven’t been thinking about how that’s impacting you, and I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want an apology. I want you to change this behavior, because lately it feels like you don’t care about me anymore.”

“Of course I care about you! You’re the one person that I can always count on to be there for me and pick me up when I’m down. I wouldn’t trade you for anyone else in the world.”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” you repeated, trying to mask the fact that you were about to cry. “At school you’re always with the guys and the only time we really get to talk is in history class. We only walk home together on Wednesdays because you have practice all the time, which I know you can’t control, but then half the time you end up hanging out with the guys anyway. It feels like I’m still trying to put effort into our friendship but you’ve pushed it aside for your cool new friends.”

“I had no idea you felt this way, Y/N.”

You shrugged, “I felt bad because I know you’re so happy that you’re on the team and you like the guys so I didn’t want to demand all your attention, but you canceling our plans for a third time is kind of ridiculous.”

“I know it is,” Tyler said, reaching up and running a hand through his hair. “And I’m going to do better. I’m not about to lose you forever just because I made a dumb mistake.”

“Promise?” you asked, holding out a pinky.

“Promise,” Tyler smiled, linking pinkies with you. You expected Tyler to get up and walk away, but to your surprise he stayed under the blanket with you. “How was the movie?”

“Really good, you would have liked it. I got a lot of weird stares for being there alone though.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that a lot when I go to the movies. You kind of get used to it after awhile.”

“It wasn’t so bad once the movie started.”

Tyler nodded and the conversation came to a stop. You were getting colder, and a shiver ran down your spine.

“You know, there’s still plenty of time for us to hang out,” Tyler said.

“Do you want to come inside?” you asked. “There’s probably enough extra dinner that we could all eat together and then we could hang out in my room and play video games.”

“That sounds awesome.”

The two of you stood up and headed inside. It felt nice for you to have your friend back, even if you were worried it was only temporary.


	12. Chapter 12

**July 6th, 2017**

You were sitting at your desk, trying and failing to finish another chapter of your book. The longer you sat there, the more frustrated you became. It had been hard to focus over the last few days.

A tapping sound on the window distracted you. Curiosity overcame you, and in a matter of seconds you were on the other side of the room looking out the window. In the grass below, Tyler was standing with a handful of rocks and shielding his eyes with his free hand. You shook your head and carefully pushed open the window.

“What in the world are you doing? Just because we’re adults now doesn’t mean that my mom is going to be any less angry if you break the window,” you sighed.

“I just wanted it to be like we were in high school again when I was too lazy to walk up to the door.”

“It’s like two steps! It takes more effort to walk through the yard!” you said, gesturing towards the front door.

Tyler shrugged, “I like to practice my aim.”

“I’ll be down there in a second,” you said, closing the window once again and sliding out into the hallway. By the time you got down to the front door, Tyler was standing on the other side, smiling widely. “Oh, so you’re not too lazy to come to the door now? I thought I was going to have to come out there and carry you across the yard.”

“Well, when I compared it to the fact that you had to walk out of your room and down the stairs, a quick trip across the yard didn’t seem too bad,” he joked.

“You’re a pain in my ass, Joseph,” you said, opening the door wider so that he could come inside.

He kicked his shoes off next to the door and the two of you autonomously walked to the backyard. Fergus was already in the backyard sunbathing, but he perked up when he heard you and Tyler walk outside.

“Where’s your mom?” Tyler asked as he took a seat in the grass.

“Work. Fridays are the only days where both of us are off work at the same time for a whole day.”

Tyler nodded. Fergus ran over and rolled onto his back next to you, prompting you to rub his stomach.

You and Tyler talked for quite some time, but you found yourself holding your tongue most of the time. There were still a lot of things that you wanted to talk to him about that you were harboring resentment about. Tyler didn’t really seem to notice.

“So have you been seeing anyone?” he asked.

You shrugged, “I’ve been on a few dates here and there, but nothing really lasts. The options here are limited and most guys get annoyed by my lack of free time.” Tyler nodded. “What about you?” you asked, immediately becoming conscious of your growing eagerness to hear his answer.

“I dated a girl for a year or two, but that’s the most serious relationship I’ve had. My music has been my primary focus since I left. Not to mention that you set a pretty high bar, Y/N.”

Tyler turned to look at you, a slight smirk on his face. You knew your face was bright red, and there really wasn’t a point in hiding it.

“Did you know I had the biggest crush on you in high school?” you asked.

Tyler’s eyes went wide, “You did?”

“It wasn’t obvious?” you asked.

“Not at all. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were my best friend! I wasn’t about to ruin that.”

“You wouldn’t have, because I liked you too.”

“No way!”

“I just thought you didn’t feel the same, so I never did anything.”

“Do you think things would have worked out differently if we had been dating?”

“Definitely, but we can’t change the past.”

“I wish we could.”

“Me too.”

The energy around the two of you had undeniably changed. Something about it was electric now, and there was no doubt that the two of you were thinking about the exact same thing. Tyler began to lean forward, and without realizing it you were doing the same.

The doubts at the back of your mind were waving red flags and screaming, telling you that this was a bad idea. You pushed them aside, telling them that it was fine and this was what you had wanted for so many years.

Your faces were centimeters apart, so close that you could feel the heat from his breath. You closed your eyes and for a moment you were sixteen again, sitting in the backyard with your best friend and the only thing you had to worry about was the math test you had next week. The feeling was short lived as everything that had happened in the past ten years came rushing back.

He left when you needed him the most, you thought. Are you really going to so easily forgive that?

You stopped and leaned back slightly. “I can’t do this,” you said, so quiet that you could hardly hear yourself. “Not yet.”

When you opened your eyes, Tyler had already leaned back and gone bright red in the face. His eyes were fixated on the ground, “Why not?”

“Ty, you left when I needed you the most. My dad had just gotten sick, my plans were ruined, and I was in the lowest spot that I’ve ever been. Rather than having my back, you left and wouldn’t even return my calls.”

“Y/N, I-”

“I’m not done,” you said. You didn’t want to cut him off, but you knew that if you didn’t lay it out on the table now, you never would. “My mom was broken. I was broken. And you know who I had to fall back on? Nobody. Because you left and I was alone. Then things only got more difficult when my dad died. I had to go from a kid who had just graduated high school to an adult who was working just to make ends meet in a matter of weeks, and that’s how I’ve been stuck for the past ten years. You leaving almost ruined me, and I can’t just let you walk in here and act like none of it happened and we’re fine again. It isn’t fair to me.”

“I totally understand.”

“Tyler, I love you and you mean the world to me, but I can’t just throw myself into a relationship without knowing that I can trust you.”

“I know, Y/N. I just want you to know that I’m willing to do whatever I need to in order to make things right. Moving away from home made me realize just how rare a person like you is, and I don’t want to lose that because of a dumb mistake I made when I was young.”

“Thank you.”

The two of you sat quietly, unsure of where the conversation should go after the outburst you had just had. You were embarrassed, to say the least, and your mind was continuing to swirl with anxieties and doubts. A small part of you was relieved, however, because you finally felt like you had said everything that needed to be said and the air was clear.

“Tyler, do you mind leaving? I need some time to think.”

“Yeah, no problem,” he said, pushing himself up from the ground.

You blinked back tears as you walked Tyler back out to the front door. He pulled you into a hug and held onto you tightly. Your face was buried in his chest and you never wanted to let go, even though you knew giving yourself time to think right now was the best thing for you.

“I’ll keep in touch. That’s a promise.”

“I believe you,” you mumbled into his chest.

He let you go and walked out the front door, only turning around and giving you a wave once he was on the far side of his car. You stood in the doorway and watched him drive off. For the first time in a long time, you felt like things might turn out ok.


	13. Chapter 13

**May 8th, 1997**

You hastily scrambled off the end of the slide and planted your feet firmly on the bark chips below you. Next to you, Tyler was doing the same, just seconds after you had touched the ground.

“I won!” you smiled cheerily, throwing your hands into the air.

Tyler pouted and kicked at the bark chips a bit, “You got a head start.”

“I did not!” you argued, knowing full well that you had won fairly.

“Yes you did!” Tyler huffed. “I watched you start sliding before I said ‘Go’!”

“You’re being a meanie and a liar,” you said before stomping over to where your moms were sitting in the grass. You plopped yourself down next to your mom and crossed your arms.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” your mom asked.

“Tyler is being a meanie and saying I got a headstart when I didn’t! He’s just angry because he lost the race.”

“Is he not listening again?” Mrs. Joseph asked you. You nodded, causing her to sigh. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Are you hungry?” your mom asked as she dug around in her bag.

“Do we have any grapes?” you asked.

“They’re in here somewhere…”

She pulled out a small bag of grapes and handed them to you. You ate them as you watched Tyler’s mom talk sternly to Tyler, who was still kicking around in the bark chips. Eventually, she walked over to where you and your mom were sitting and took a seat on the blanket. Tyler, on the other hand, walked over and took a seat on the swings.

“He’s just mad because he lost. I told him that he needed to apologize, but he didn’t want to so now he’s pouting on the swings.”

“Kids, right?” your mom scoffed.

“Hey!” you said.

“Not you, of course,” your mom said, pulling you into a half hug.

Once you had finished your grapes, you began to play idly with the edge of the blanket. You were bored without Tyler to play with and the swings were out of the question since he was over there, but you wanted to make a point by not playing with him until he apologized.

Tyler suddenly hopped off the swings and went walking down the other side of the hill. You seized your opportunity to use the swings and took off at a run towards the other side of the playground. It took you a second to get yourself situated on the highest, and therefore best, swing, but eventually you were gliding through the air over the bark chips.

You had only been swinging for a few minutes when someone called your name. On the other side of the swingset, Tyler was standing with something clenched tightly in his fist.

“Did you catch a bug?” you asked gleefully, momentarily forgetting your anger towards him.

Bark chips flew threw the air as you dragged your heels to slow yourself down and hopped off the swing. Tyler was still standing on the other side of the swingset, so you ran over to see what it is he had. As you got closer, you realized the object clutched in his hand was actually a small arrangement of flowers.

“I’m sorry that I called you a liar,” he said. “I got you some flowers to make up for it.”

“Really?” you grinned widely, taking the flowers from him. You brought the flowers up to your nose and smelled them, a decision which you immediately came to regret as you sneezed loudly. “They smell nice, but they make me sneezy,” you sighed.

“Do you accept my apology?”

You nodded, “Do you want to roll down the hill?”

“Won’t that make your nose itchy?”

“It’s already itchy, so I might as well make the most of it.”

“Ok,” Tyler grinned, taking off for the hill.

“I’m going to give the flowers to my mom; I’ll be there in a second.”

You ran over to where your mom was sitting in a grass. She seemed a bit confused to see you running over to her with flowers, but she quickly understood when you explained that Tyler had given them to you as an apology. Tyler’s mom seemed pleased that he had apologized.

Tyler was already at the bottom of the hill, covered in grass and dirt, when you arrived at the top. He waved wildly at you and motioned for you to roll down the hill, which you quickly obliged to. By the time you reached the bottom of the hill, the two of you were laughing so hard that you had to sit down.

“Want to go again?” Tyler asked.

“I’ll race you down!”

“Yes!” Tyler cheered as the two of you made your way up the hill.

The two of you positioned yourselves in the grass and crossed your arms over your chest. You counted down from three and took off down the hill. Unfortunately, Tyler seemed to have a better rolling technique and made it to the bottom of the hill seconds before you did.

“I finally won!” Tyler smiled, jumping around in the grass.

“Good job,” you said, giving him a congratulatory high five.

“I like hanging out with you, Y/N. You’re a lot cooler than my friends from school. And nicer.”

“Really?” you asked, brushing some grass clumps away from your knees.

“Yeah.”

“I like hanging out with you too,” you smiled. “All my friends at school like dolls and I don’t want to play with dolls,” you wrinkled your nose.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Are-are you still going to be friends with me in middle school? Or are you going to think I’m a gross boy and not like me anymore?”

“Of course we’re going to be friends in middle school! Tyler, we’re going to be friends forever, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Tyler smiled. “We pinky promised!”

“Exactly!”

“Ok, I just wanted to make sure.” Tyler pulled nervously at the end of his shirt.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” you smiled, walking over and linking arms with Tyler. “Now why don’t we roll down the hill some more?”

“You think you can beat me?”

“Think? I know I can beat you.”

“Yeah right.”

You took off running up the hill, already formulating just how you were going to increase your rolling speed enough to beat Tyler.

After a few more races and only beating Tyler a small handful of times, the two of you decided you were tired and wanted to go sit back down on the blanket. You walked over and linked your arm with Tyler again, just to show him how much you cared.

“Well aren’t you two all friendly again,” your mom said.

“We’re going to be friends forever,” you smiled proudly.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Mrs. Joseph said.

You unlinked your arm from Tyler’s and took a seat on the blanket next to your mom. She handed you the bag of grapes that you had previously been eating, which you happily took.

“Today is a good day,” you announced. “I hope I have more days like this.”


	14. Chapter 14

**July 8th, 2017**

You carefully stepped off the stool and returned to your spot behind the counter. The bookstore was empty, as it always seemed to be on summer afternoons. People just preferred to be out in the warm sun instead of looking at books, it seemed.

Tyler had left the day before. He had come over and given you a quick goodbye, promising that he would be back in a timely manner and that he would be sure to text often. You hoped it was true, but figured it was best not to get your hopes up too much. The mistrust was still sitting in the back of your mind, but with each passing day it got a little better.

You were sitting behind the counter, making some notes about the store when your manager walked up to you. He was carrying something under his arm, and looked a bit disgruntled. Then again, he always had the tendency to look like that.

“A customer came in earlier today and said that he wanted me to give this to you when you came in.”

He set a book down on the counter and slid it across to you. You recognized it instantly: your favorite book, the same one that you had read a hundred times over and never loved any less. You had lost your copy a few years ago when you and your mom had been cleaning out your room to find things for a garage sale. You hadn’t told anyone that it was missing, nor had you picked up another copy yet, so it seemed odd that a customer had dropped it off.

“Did they say who they were?”

Your manager shook his head, “Nope, just that he wanted this to be given to you when your shift started.”

“Thank you,” you said, grabbing the book.

Your manager grunted before walking back to his small office in the back of the store. You bent down and grabbed your bag so that you could put the book away, but just as you were about to do so you noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the top. Curiosity getting the better of you, you pulled it out.

The so-called piece of paper turned out to be an envelope with your name scribbled on the front in Tyler’s unmistakable handwriting. You were just about to open it when the bell over the door chimed. With a sigh, you hastily stuffed the envelope back into the book and stuck it into your bag. It would have to wait until you were off work.

Work seemed to draw on forever now that Tyler’s note was sitting in the back of your mind. A million questions were running through your head and you were itching to open it, but you knew that your manager wouldn’t appreciate you doing personal things during work hours. He already seemed bothered enough by having to give you the book in the first place.

You practically sprinted to your car once your shift ended. Your fast pace attracted a few stares, but you brushed them off; the only thing on your mind right now was getting to your car and opening Tyler’s letter. What had been so important that he couldn’t tell you in person?

You slammed the car door behind you and began to dig through your bag until you found the letter. Your heart was beating furiously in your chest, both from your practical sprint to the car and the anticipation of what the letter said. You took a second to look at it before you opened it, taking advantage of your last moments of ignorance.

The envelope opened easily, and you pulled out the folded piece of notebook paper that was tucked inside. As you unfolded the letter, a smaller piece of paper fell into your lap. You picked it up and began to read it.

“No way,” you gasped. “No fucking way.”

The smaller piece of paper had turned out to be a plane ticket to California for the end of the month. You were in shock and disbelief. Your hands shook as you read the letter.

_Y/N,_

_I know you told me that you wanted some time to think, but I figured that you could also use a break from your life at home. There’s no pressure for you to come visit, but I figured I would give you the plane ticket just in case. We can buy you a return ticket when you’re here, because I wasn’t sure how long you’ll want to or be able to stay._

_And because I know you’re wondering why I gave you a letter for this instead of telling you in person, you and I both know there’s no way you would have accepted this in person. We may have been apart for ten years, but I still know how you are._

_Oh yeah, and enjoy the book._

_-Ty_

You could hardly believe what was happening. Never in a million years did you think you would ever be able to visit California after your dad got sick. It had always been a dream in the back of your mind, but that was it: a dream.

You grabbed your phone from your bag and dialed Tyler’s number. Hopefully he wasn’t busy, you really needed to talk to him. Thankfully, he picked up after a couple rings.

“Hello?”

“Tyler, are you fucking with me?”

“Come again?”

“The plane ticket, the letter, it’s a joke, right?”

Tyler laughed quietly on the other end of the line, “No, Y/N, it’s not a joke. I want you to come visit.”

You took a deep breath and leaned back against your seat, “I’m actually going to California.”

“Yeah you are.”

“Thank you so much, Ty. I owe you.”

“No, you don’t. You gave me a second chance and that’s more than enough for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of something in my life.”

“Ok, I need to get home before my mom starts worrying. I just had to call to make sure this wasn’t a joke.”

“I’ll see you later this month.”

“Bye, Ty.”

“Later.”

You hung up the call and tossed your phone onto the passenger seat. After one last long glance at the plane ticket, you pulled out onto the street and headed home.

Your mom was in the kitchen cooking when you arrived home. You set your stuff down by the door and walked into the kitchen, the plane ticket clutched tightly in one hand.

“There you are,” your mom smiled. “How was work?”

“Work was slow, but I got some really exciting news.”

“You did?”

“Look at this.”

You set the plane ticket down and slid it over to where your mom could easily see it. She took a second to look it over before her eyes went wide and she looked up at you.

“Where did you get this?”

“Tyler. He wants me to come visit.”

“You’re going to California?”

You nodded. Your mom’s eyes began to well up and she walked over to pull you into a hug. Deep down, you knew she had always felt bad for holding you back, even if it wasn’t her fault.

“I’m so excited for you, sweetheart.” She released you from the hug and held you at arm’s length, “When do you leave?”

“The end of this month.”

“How exciting,” she smiled. “You’re finally making your trip.”


	15. Chapter 15

**November 19th, 2015**

You sighed and set your pen down in the corner of your desk, deciding that it would be best to give your brain a rest before you tried to finish the rest of the chapter. Everything you had written so far felt forced, and you weren’t really sure if you liked the direction your book was going in yet.

Your mom was downstairs cooking dinner, so you decided to go help her cook to take your mind off of things. She smiled as you walked into the kitchen.

“I was wondering if you were ever going to come out of your room.”

You smiled, “There’s been lots of ideas floating around in my head. I wanted to get them all written down somewhere before they decided to run off again. Writing a book is hard work, you know.”

“I can only imagine,” she said, cutting up a pepper. It appeared she was making some sort of soup for dinner.

“Do you need any help?”

“I suppose you could cut up some vegetables if you wanted.”

“Sure,” you said, grabbing a small stack of veggies to chop up for the soup.

“So how is the book coming?”

“I’m getting stuck in the middle. I mean, I guess I’m still stuck in the middle, if you consider how long I’ve been working on it.”

Your mom made a quiet humming noise, signaling that she understood.

“I’m getting close to finding my way through it, though,” you continued. “I can feel it.”

“Well that’s good,” she smiled as she tossed some ingredients into the pot. “I know how invested in that book you are, so I’m glad that it’s going well for you.”

“Could be going better,” you muttered as you grabbed another pepper. Your mom didn’t seem to notice.

You hummed quietly as you continued to cut up vegetables. Without realizing it, you had started humming one of Tyler’s songs that you had heard on the radio the other day. You had to admit, it was catchy even if it reminded you of him. Maybe that had been the point, he was reaching out to you through the radio.

No, that was dumb. It had been years, he probably hadn’t even thought of you recently.

“Are you humming Tyler’s song?” your mom asked.

“Huh? Oh, I guess I was.”

“It’s a catchy song. Oh! That reminds me, I have this news article to show you after dinner.”

“Ok,” you said as you gathered all of your chopped vegetables into a neat pile.

“Well, I think that’s everything. Should only be another twenty minutes or so until dinner is ready.”

“Alright, I think I’ll go sit in the yard for a bit.”

“Take Fergus with you, would you?”

“Sure.”

You walked into the living room where Fergus was passed out on the couch. He had gotten so big in the last year, it was hard to believe that he had ever been a puppy. You walked over and gently scratched his head to wake him up. He quickly perked up and began to wag his tail, creating a thumping sound on the couch.

“Hey, bud. Why don’t we go outside?”

He rolled up to a sitting position and happily hopped off of the couch. A large pile of hair was left behind on the couch where he had been sitting. Your mom probably wouldn’t be too happy about that.

A gust of cold air hit your face as you opened the sliding door that led to the backyard. Fergus ran out past your legs into the grass and began to do laps around the edge of the yard. You closed the door behind you and took a seat on the edge of the porch. It was cold outside, but not unbearable.

The sun had set a while ago, meaning that the stars were already visible as you sat on the porch. You couldn’t resist leaning back and looking up at them. Once Fergus got tired of sprinting around the yard, he came over and joined you by curling up into your side. If nothing else, he was a good heat source.

It was nights like these that you missed Tyler the most. You hated to admit that you still thought of him, but it was undeniable that he still had an influence on your life. There was nothing you wanted more than to just see him again, but without a way to communicate that just wasn’t an option.

“Y/N, dinner is ready.”

Fergus got up and ran inside. You hadn’t even heard her open the door. How long had you been outside? Your hands were cold, and it hurt just a little bit to move them. It was probably a good thing that your mom had called you inside. Who knows how long you would have stayed outside, sitting spaced out in the cold.

“Coming,” you said, pushing yourself back up to a sitting position.

Grabbing a bowl of warm soup proved to be a fantastic way to warm up your hands. You took a seat at the table across from your mom, who was already happily enjoying her own bowl of soup.

“You look cold,” she commented. “Your nose and cheeks are bright pink.”

“Yeah, I kind of lost track of time while I was outside.”

“Something on your mind?”

You shrugged. Your mom had always been able to tell when you were upset.

“Tyler, I guess. It’s hard not knowing what he’s up to or if he’s ok.”

Your mom leaned back in her chair for a moment, appearing as if she were thinking hard about something.

“I was going to wait until after dinner to show you, but I don’t see the harm in doing it now. Wait just one second.”

She got up and walked off, looking very determined. You sat and stirred your soup a bit, taking the occasional bite. It was good soup and was helping to warm you back up, but you just didn’t feel very hungry.

Your mom walked back into the room a few moments later, carrying a small piece of paper in her hand. She sat back down and carefully unfolded it before sliding it across the table to you.

“Tyler’s mom gave this to me the other day. She thought you might want to see it. I meant to show it to you earlier, but it slipped my mind.”

The piece of paper turned out to be a newspaper clipping. A picture of Tyler and his bandmate Josh were right below a big, bold heading. It read “Up and coming band Twenty One Pilots breaks into Billboard Hot 100 Chart”. You didn’t bother to read the article beneath it.

“Wow, the Billboard Chart,” you said. “That’s pretty impressive.”

“Isn’t it? And to think that it all started here,” she beamed.

You nodded. Your mom had shown you the clipping with good intentions, you knew that, but it had only served to make you feel worse. You knew that you were supposed to be proud of him. The Billboard Chart was a huge deal, and it meant that his career was surely going to take off. Unfortunately, that’s not how the situation felt.

Instead, you couldn’t help but think about how successful Tyler was. He had made it out of your small town and created a name for himself. It was something you could only dream of. All you had managed to do was write half of a book, and not a very good one at that. Sure, songwriting and book writing were completely different, but you had obviously done something wrong if you hadn’t achieved success in the same amount of time as Tyler had.

“Who knows, maybe Tyler will come back here one day and we can go into town and watch him perform,” your mom said. She was obviously much happier about this situation than you were.

“Yeah, that would be fun!”

You did your best to fake happiness, not wanting to have to discuss this situation with her. She would feel terrible if she found out that she had upset you. All you had to do was make it through dinner and then you could disappear up to your room and hide away until you felt better.

“Can you believe you were best friends with someone who is now a famous musician?”

“It’s crazy,” you said, stirring your soup a bit. “Maybe one day he’ll say the same about me being an author.”

“I have no doubt that he will.”

You quickly finished your soup and washed out your bowl. Your mom was still finishing hers as you headed upstairs and into your room. It was a relief to finally be alone, able to express your emotions without your mom feeling like she was personally responsible.

You stomped over to your desk where your writing was spread out across your desk. Scribbles and messy notes covered pages upon pages of blank paper, but that was seemingly all you could create. After all, you had been working on this novel for years and the only think you had to show for it was just over a hundred pages of terrible writing.

You grabbed a stack of papers and threw them at the wall, letting them fall to the floor in unorganized heaps. You were upset. In fact, you were beyond upset. You were furious. Furious about how your life had played out. Furious about Tyler leaving you behind. Furious about him being able to live out his dream while you worked at a job that was leading you nowhere. It wasn’t fair to you.

You grabbed another sheet of notes and crumpled it in your fist before tossing it at the wall. There was a small part of you stopping you from destroying your work completely, but you needed to get your anger out somehow.

You continued to crumple and throw papers until the anger eventually subsided into sadness. The entirety of your bedroom floor was covered in papers that you knew you would have to spend ages reorganizing. Frustration was still overwhelming you, but making a mess of your hard work was no longer helping it go away, even temporarily.

You made a small clearing among the mess and sat down, pulling your knees up to your chest so that you took up less space. It was hard to tell if you were more upset by the frustration or the mess that you had made. Either way, you hoped that your mom wouldn’t come upstairs and see the mess that both your room and you were.

“I need to make a change,” you mumbled to yourself.

The only problem was that you didn’t know how.


	16. Chapter 16

**July 30th, 2017**

Your forehead was practically glued to the car window as Tyler drove you through the streets of California. This moment was something that you had only dreamed of before, and now that it was finally happening you wanted to make the most of it that you possibly could. After all, you had never been this far from home before.

“Is it everything that you ever dreamed of?” Tyler asked, laughter just barely detectable in his tone.

“It’s amazing,” you said breathlessly. “This is really what you get to see every day?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice. There’s a lot more to see than at home.”

“No kidding.”

Tyler turned into a neighborhood. The houses that lined the streets were nicer than any of the ones that you had seen at home. Large windows faced the street, giving you glimpses into the fabulous interiors that the homes had. You began to wonder what Tyler’s house was going to look like.

He pulled into the driveway of one of the smaller houses in the neighborhood. It surely wasn’t the mansion that you had always envisioned him living in, but it was still much nicer than the house he had lived in back home with his family.

“Here it is,” Tyler said as he stepped out of the car.

“It’s nice,” you said, grabbing your duffel bag from the backseat of the car.

Tyler opened up the front door and led you inside. You weren’t sure what you had expected to see, maybe dozens of people wandering around and taking care of his house. Instead, it seemed like it was just Tyler that lived in the house, as far as you could tell. Maybe the life you had envisioned him living wasn’t exactly accurate, after all.

He showed you to the guest room where you would be staying. You set your things down on the bed before walking over to the window that overlooked the hills in the distance. It was one of the most beautiful things that you had ever seen.

“I can’t believe you just get to…live here.”

“It’s pretty incredible. I just wish you could be here with me.”

“Maybe one day,” you smiled.

“Want to see the rest of the house?”

 

You and Tyler spent the rest of the day exploring the city. He showed you some of the first venues that he had ever played and some of his favorite spots in the city. It was nice to finally feel like you were becoming a part of his life again. You just wished that the two of you didn’t have to live so far apart.

The two of you got out of the car and walked back towards the house. You had gone out to dinner at Tyler’s favorite restaurant which had proved to have some of the best food that you had ever eaten.

“So this has been your life for the last ten years?” you asked as you took a seat on the couch.

“It wasn’t always this glamorous. The first apartment I had was quite the experience. Things broke all the time, the landlord couldn’t be bothered to help, and the lock on the door only worked about half the time.”

“I’m sad I missed it,” you laughed.

“Hey, if there were two of us then one of us could have kept watch while the other slept.”

“Just what I always wanted in an apartment! How long did it take for your career to really start picking up?”

“A couple years. Josh joining the band really helped.”

You gasped, “I’ll have to meet Josh soon! I need to see who took my place in Los Angeles.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet him soon. I think you two will get along really well.”

“Ok, good.” You paused for a moment to take in your surroundings. “It’s hard to believe that I’m really here.”

“It’s hard for me to believe too, but I’m glad that you finally had the opportunity to see California.”

“It’s weird to think that we were going to move here when we were eighteen. I mean, I guess you did.”

“Yeah,” Tyler smiled. “Hey, can I talk to you about something serious?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

Tyler looked nervous, which in turn was making you nervous about what he was going to say. Your only escape at the moment was the guest bedroom, which wasn’t exactly removed from Tyler.

“So I’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Tyler started. “And I thought that you might want to move out here and live with me.”

You felt your heart skip a beat. There was nothing you wanted more than to be living in California and following your dream, but the last ten years had proven that that wasn’t an option.

“Tyler, I would love to.” Tyler began to smile. “But I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve seen what my life is like at home. I can’t just leave my mom at home to move out here, she won’t be able to support herself. Not to mention how guilty I would feel if I just left her in the house alone.”

“I have enough money to be able to support her,” he said quietly. “You mean so much to me, I don’t want you to be so far away.”

You sighed, “I just don’t think I can leave her. I mean a lot to her too, Ty. She’s already lost my dad, it just doesn’t feel right for her to lose me too.”

“I understand, and I’m not going to force you to do anything.”

“Have you ever considered moving home?”

“I have,” Tyler nodded. “A lot, actually. My career is just so established here that making the switch back home would be difficult.”

“Well, if you want to be close to me, I think that’s what you’re going to have to do.”

He leaned back in his chair and looked down at his feet.

“I’ll consider it,” he said finally.

You reached over and grabbed his hand in your own, giving it a light squeeze. “Even if you decide you can’t come home, we’re still going to be best friends. Best friends forever, remember?” you smiled.

“Best friends forever,” he nodded.

“If we can survive ten years without talking, then we can get through anything.”

“You’re right.”

You scooted over and pulled him into a hug. He held onto you tightly.

“I know, I’m always right.”


	17. Chapter 17

**June 8th, 2003**

“Ty!” you huffed. “Wait up!”

You pedaled harder to catch up with Tyler, who was already halfway up the hill.

“Keep pedaling, Y/N!” he called over his shoulder.

“I’m trying!”

By the time that you reached the top of the hill, you were breathing hard and Tyler was tapping his foot impatiently.

“You finally made it!”

You stared him down as he hopped back onto his bike. Without warning, he took off down the hill, sticking his legs out to the sides gleefully. You pushed off the pavement and followed him down the hill, careful not to hit any fallen twigs that would throw you off your bike.

“Are we close?” you called.

“Only a few more minutes.”

It had been awhile since you and Tyler had been out to the lake. School had just ended for the summer, meaning that the weather was finally getting nice enough for the two of you to spend your days swimming around in the lake.

The lake eventually came into view, prompting you to pedal a bit faster to get there quicker. Tyler was only a few feet in front of you, doing the same.

The two of you arrived at the lake and leaned your bikes up against the bit of fence the seperated the lake from some stranger’s yard. Tyler took his backpack off and set it near his bike before taking his shirt off and tossing it onto the ground.

“Coming?” Tyler asked, gesturing over his shoulder.

“I think I might sit for awhile,” you answered.

“Suit yourself.”

Tyler jogged over to the little rock that jutted out over the lake. After a moment of adjustment, he did a swan dive off of the rock and into the water. It splashed a bit, but you were a safe enough distance away to avoid getting wet. Once he had resurfaced, you walked over and took a seat on the rock, letting your bare feet dangle just above the water.

“How is it?” you asked as Tyler paddled around.

“Refreshing, a bit cold though.”

“Are you going to stay in long?”

He shook his head, “More than ten minutes in here and my lips will start turning blue.”

“Well, the sun feels nice if you want to come join me on the rock.”

“That’s a tempting offer,” he smiled.

You watched as Tyler swam over to the shore and climbed up onto the bank. While he dried himself off, you kicked idly at the water beneath your feet. Tyler was right, the water was cold. He came over and took a seat next to you. His hair was dripping onto his shirt, creating little dark spots across his shoulders.

“Crazy to think it’s already summer, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” you said. “And in a few months we’ll be freshman.”

“That’s weird to think about. Soon we’ll be going off to college!”

“We’ve still got a while until then.”

“I bet it will go by faster than we expect it to.”

“Yeah. Are you going to try out for the basketball team?”

Tyler shrugged, “I don’t see why not. It would give me something to do in my free time.”

“What about me?”

“Well, yeah, that too.”

“You’re still going to be friends with me in high school, right?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know. It’s high school. New people and cute girls and sports teams, maybe I just won’t be cool enough for you anymore.”

“I don’t get why you’re always so worried about me not wanting to be friends with you. I’m never going to leave you, Y/N.”

“Who knows, maybe one day you just won’t want to hang out with me anymore.”

Tyler reached over and wrapped an arm around you so that he could pull you into a side hug. “First of all, Y/N, we’ve been friends for eight years. I don’t have any other friends that have been around that long. We even made it through middle school together. Second of all, you’re the coolest person I know. We like to do a lot of the same things, which isn’t really the case with most of my other friends. And finally, you understand me better than anyone else. That’s rare with me.”

You kicked at the water, causing ripples to travel along its surface, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

He took his arm off of you and leaned back on his elbows, “For the first time in my life.”

You looked out across the water to the line of trees on the other side of the lake. Despite Tyler’s reassurance, nervous thoughts were still bouncing around in your brain.

“Do you think high school is going to be better?” you asked.

“I hope so. Middle school kind of sucked.”

“Tell me about it. At least we had each other.”

“Another reason why nothing is going to change in high school.”

You leaned over and bumped into his shoulder with your own. It was obvious that he meant what he was saying, but you still found yourself unable to believe him.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” he said suddenly.

“What makes you think that?”

“Y/N, I know you. You’re being quiet and avoiding eye contact, that’s what you always do when you’re worried.”

You shrugged. He was right.

“Even if you don’t believe me, I just want you to know that I mean everything that I said. You’re more important to me than anything. More important than school. More important than music. You’re even more important than my family at times, just don’t tell my mom I said that.”

“I would never,” you smiled.

“Like it or not, you aren’t going to easily get rid of me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry that I doubt you, Ty.”

“It’s ok. I just don’t want you to worry, especially not at my expense.

“Thanks.”

The two of you sat quietly for a bit. You continued to kick idly at the water while Tyler looked up at the sky.

“Should we go back to my house since it’s too cold to swim?”

“Sure,” you answered, although you weren’t looking forward to having to bike all the way back.

Tyler got up, but you remained on the rock for a moment.

“You coming?”

You turned over your shoulder to see Tyler standing with his hands on his handlebar. One of his eyebrows was raised inquisitively at you.

“Yeah, sorry.”

You got up and walked over to where Tyler was. He had already started pedaling down the path by the time that you had gotten on your bike.

“Wait up!” you called.

The two of you biked back to your neighborhood in silence. You were trying to ignore all of the worries about the upcoming school year. After all, school had just ended which meant you had a whole summer to spend with Tyler, just the two of you.


	18. Chapter 18

**August 24th, 2017**

You pushed your pile of mashed potatoes to the other side of your plate. It had been nearly a month since you had gone and visited Tyler in California, and with each passing day it seemed less likely that he was ever coming home. The two of you had been talking almost daily, but he had never said anything that alluded to the fact that he was coming back.

You knew it had been stupid to get your hopes up. Both of you had established lives that couldn’t just be dropped at will, especially not for someone you had reconnected with in a matter of days after being apart for ten years. At least you had enjoyed the time with him while it lasted and you finally had the opportunity to see California.

“Are you doing alright?” your mom asked.

You had given her the full rundown of the conversation you and Tyler had on the way back from the airport. As a result, she had been extra sensitive to your mood in the recent weeks. She had maintained a positive outlook on the situation to keep you from getting too down about it. You had lost count of the times that she had told you that moving was a long process and the fact that it had been close to a month could be a good thing.

“I don’t think he’s coming back,” you said.

“Oh, honey, don’t say that,” your mom said.

You wiped a tear away and stared down at your plate. Your mom was about to get up and walk over to comfort you, but your phone buzzed before she had the chance. You grabbed it quickly and read the text that you had received.

_Ordered something for you. Should be on the porch._

“Who is it from?” your mom asked eagerly.

“Tyler,” you answered, staring at your phone in confusion. What had he ordered for you?

“What does it say?”

“He ordered something for me and it’s on the porch.”

“What are you waiting for? Go check!”

You stuffed your phone in your pocket and got up from the table. Fergus trailed behind you, eager to see what you were up to. You switched on the porch light and swung the door open, curious as to what Tyler was up to. The porch was empty, save for the cheesy welcome mat that your mom had bought a few years ago. Confused, you looked up towards the street.

Tyler was standing a ways down the path that led to your house. Two suitcases stood next to him, and he was smiling widely. You made a sound somewhere before confusion and excitement as you ran towards him and crashed into his arms.

“I came straight from the airport,” he said. He was holding on to you almost as tightly as you were holding him.

“I thought you weren’t coming,” you sniffled, although it was now tears of joy.

“I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, I’m not going to lose you forever just because I made a dumb mistake.”

You were now fully sobbing into Tyler’s shoulder. He continued to hold you tightly and whisper reassurances in your ear. Fergus was circling your feet, trying to figure out just what exactly was going on.

“I’m so glad that you’re back,” you said once you managed to stop sobbing.

“I’m glad to be back.”

You finally let go of him and took a couple of steps back to give him some space.

“And you’re really back for good?”

“I still own the house in California in case I ever need it, but I’m back for good.”

It was hard for you to believe. You had spent so many years without him and gradually adjusted to not having him in your life. It had been difficult, but it was what you had to do to get by. Now he was back, living only a short distance way, and it was like a missing piece of you had been filled again.

“Do you want to come inside?” you asked, wiping away a few leftover tears.

“There’s one thing that I want to do before that.”

“What do you-”

Tyler rested a hand on your cheek, prompting you to stop mid-sentence. He took a few steps closer to you, and finally things clicked.

“Oh, I see where this is going,” you smiled.

He pulled you into a kiss, and this time you let it happen. All of the doubt and fear was gone. There were no more red flags screaming in the back of your mind. Now all you felt was the warmth and happiness that Tyler brought into your life.

“I told you that you’re more important than anything, and I should have remembered that before I made the dumb decision to leave.”

“Well at least you remembered it in time to come back,” you smiled, pulling him into a another kiss.

You heard cheering behind you, and when you turned around you saw your mom standing in the doorway bouncing around giddily. Your cheeks immediately went bright red and you couldn’t help but feel like a teenager again.

“Mom!” you said.

“I’m sorry, honey, but you know how long I’ve wanted this.”

“No worries, Ms. Y/L/N,” Tyler said.

“Oh, Tyler. You know to call me Y/M/N.”

“Sorry,” he smiled.

“Come inside, you two. There’s no point in having a reunion in the front yard.”

You helped Tyler carry his stuff inside. It was impossible to keep yourself from smiling. You had spent so many years feeling like you had been dealt a terrible hand in life that it was nice to finally have something go your way.

The three of you took a seat in the living room. Your mom sat in her favorite armchair and you and Tyler sat together on the couch. He lightly rested his knee against your own.

“So why didn’t you tell me you were coming home?” you asked.

“I wanted it to be a total surprise.”

“I was afraid you were never coming back!”

“Of course I was coming back! Have I not gotten the fact that you mean more than anything across yet?”

“Apparently not,” you smiled, bumping his knee.

“So what does this mean for your music?” your mom asked.

“Not much has changed. There’s a lot of companies here that I can use instead of ones in California, and if something is really important than I can always fly out there.”

“That’s fantastic to hear,” she smiled.

You hadn’t even realized that you were staring at Tyler until he turned to you and raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry,” you blushed. “I’m just still in awe that you’re even here right now.”

“Get used to it,” he smiled. “Because I doubt it will be long until we’re living together.”

“I didn’t even think about that, there’s a lot of decisions that are going to have to be made.”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” he said, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you into his side. “We have all the time in the world now.”


	19. Epilogue

**August 24th, 2018**

“I think that’s everything,” you said, setting down another suitcase amongst the pile that you had already created. Thankfully, you didn’t have much stuff that needed to be moved from home.

“Now we just have to unpack it all,” Tyler laughed, wrapping an arm around you.

“Don’t remind me,” you sighed.

“I think we can get away with putting it off for a little while.”

“I’ll take that,” you said, grabbing Tyler’s hands and pulling him over towards the couch.

The two of you flopped down, and you quickly adjusted yourself so that you were resting on Tyler’s chest. Even though all you had done that day was travel, you were tired and ready for a nap.

“Eleven years later and we finally made it,” you smiled.

After about six months of living at home, you and Tyler had decided to make the move back out to California. Tyler was able to pay for your house and allow your mom to finally retire from her job, which helped you feel less terrible about leaving her. After some long conversations, your mom had finally convinced you that she had no problem with you moving away. After all, she still had the Josephs and Fergus to keep her company.

“It was a bumpy road, but we made it.”

“I think bumpy is an understatement. I was ready to scream at you when I saw you at your parents’ for the first time.”

“I could tell,” he laughed. “I almost didn’t ask you to talk outside.”

“I’m glad you did,” you said, reaching over and lightly squeezing his hand.

“Me too.”

“This is surreal. When you left that day, I thought that my ending was written. I was going to be at home for the rest of my life or until I somehow managed to write a book that sold well.”

“You and I both know that situations are never permanent. Look at us now.”

“I know, it’s almost unbelievable.”

“I love you so much,” Tyler said, pulling you closer so that he could press a kiss to your temple.

“I love you too.”

Your mind wandered back to just over a year ago. Things had felt so hopeless that you were worried about taking things one day at a time. Your book had been a distraction from the reality that you were living in, not a career option.

Now here you were, finally living out the plans that you and Tyler had created so many years ago. It felt surreal to finally be living away from home with your best friend, no longer worried about if you would have enough money to make the next payment on the house. You were able to focus on your writing and making something that you were proud of. For the first time in your life, you felt completely happy.


End file.
